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

May 31, 2000

Issue # 1542

	
*Inside Burma

JAPAN TIMES:  MYANMAR'S ETHNIC PATCHWORK: AN ANTHROPOLOGIST'S DREAM, 
BUT A POLITICAL   NIGHTMARE

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST: CURIOUS POWER OF 'THE LADY'

SHRF: TV AND VIDEO OWNERS REQUIRED TO PAY TAXES IN MURNG-SART [Shan 
State]

KARENNI NEWS: NEWS FROM INSIDE KARENNI 


*International

NIKKEI SHINBUM [JAPAN]: KHIN NYUNT WILL ATTEND OBUCHI'S FUNERAL

NATION:  BURMA CALLED ON FOR PROTECTION 

HINDUSTAN TIMES [INDIA]: ULFA SHIFTS 3 MAIN CAMPS TO ARUNACHAL


*Economy/Business

NLM: SEMINAR ON BOND MARKET OPENS

ALGEMEEN DAGBLAD (NETHERLANDS): ABP REVIEWS IHC STOCK

HET FINANCIELE DAGBLAD [NETHERLANDS]: [MORE ON IHC'S BURMA INVESTMENT]

			



__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
	

JAPAN TIMES:  MYANMAR'S ETHNIC PATCHWORK: AN ANTHROPOLOGIST'S DREAM, 
BUT A POLITICAL   NIGHTMARE


  By Richard Humphries
  Special to The Japan Times
  May 31, 2000
  
  In terms of sheer social complexity it has few rivals  Perhaps 
Lebanon, possibly   the Balkans. But Myanmar's ethnic mix is truly 
diverse. There are some 100   languages and dialects. Major ethnic 
groups like the Karen, Shan, Mon, Chin,   and Kachin encompass 
others. The Chin alone have 40 subgroups. Even the   majority Myanmar 
citizens, some two-thirds of the total population, include   numerous 
assimilated Mon and Karen.
  
  While it is an anthropologist's dream, Myanmar's ethnic patchwork 
has proved a   continuing political nightmare. Most of the ethnic 
minorities have, at one time or   another, taken up arms against the 
central government. Some are still fighting,   yet the destruction 
and deprivation visited upon minority communities is rarely   
reported.
  
  While all sides in these conflicts bear degrees of responsibility 
for the turmoil,   one salient fact stands out. No Myanmar government 
has addressed minority   grievances in a fully fair and comprehensive 
manner. The spirit of "Unity in   Diversity," promoted by the 
country's founder, Aung San, largely passed with his   assassination 
in 1947. If minority concerns are addressed at all, then military   
solutions are sought for political problems. "One blood, one voice, 
one command"   was for years a favored government army slogan.
  
  In the last decade, the current junta has acquired a vast array of 
armaments and   increased its armed forces to almost 500,000 men. 
Armed ethnic groups like the   Mon or Kachin have been pressured or 
beaten to the point where they found it   necessary to strike 
ceasefires with Yangon. The junta says that represents   progress, 
and certainly much unnecessary killing has stopped. Unfortunately,   
promised political dialog has been farcical or nonexistent and 
promised economic   development not much better. When it comes to 
large-scale projects, such as the   Yadana gas pipeline, through Mon 
and Karen territory, or the projected Salween   Dam in Shan State, 
minorities are told to step aside and used as forced labor. 
  
  No ethnic group has fought longer or harder than the Karen have. In 
1949, when   their struggle began, the Karen, led by the Karen 
National Union (KNU),   controlled Mandalay and were poised to take 
Yangon. Today, the KNU controls   little territory and over 120,000 
Karen languish as refugees in Thailand, with a   much larger number 
internally displaced in Myanmar's Karen State.    

  Outside observers have sometimes found fault with the KNU 
suggesting that it is   fighting an unwinnable war and led by a 
largely Christian old guard. In 1995 a   Buddhist faction split off 
and formed an armed alliance with Yangon.   
  In January this year, the KNU elected a new leader, Saw Ba Thin, 
replacing   General Bo Mya, who had led the organization for 24 
years. Ba Thin's path   upward in the KNU has been more political 
than military. In appearance a genial,   articulate 73-year old 
Karen, he was originally from the Henzada district in   Myanmar's 
upper Irrawaddy delta. At a private interview, in the Thai-Myanmar   
border area in March, Ba Thin addressed criticisms of the KNU and 
spoke of   Karen concerns and goals.
  
  Ba Thin acknowledged that many observers would see the KNU's 
abandonment   of fixed positional warfare for guerrilla tactics as a 
sign of weakness and admitted   that "force of circumstances" 
impelled the change. He emphasized, however, that   the force of 
Karen nationalism was not something to be measured in terms of   guns 
or territory. And that fortune can change.
  
  "Yes, by viewing from the outside, maybe people see us like that," 
Ba Thin said.   "But they don't see the mind or the inner part of the 
heart of the Karen and how   we feel. Take World War II. The Japanese 
and the Germans were very powerful   and people thought they'd 
overrun the whole world. But within two or three years   the 
situation changed. There are 7 million Karen. If you can't kill all 
of them at   once, the heart will remember."
  
  The leadership change has also extended downward and younger Karen 
have   been brought into important positions. Significantly, a 
Buddhist and former monk   named Saw Satila, now heads the 
organization's Religious Affairs Department.    

  "Because many of our leaders were over 75, we have to hand over 
power to the   new generation, the KNU president said. "They are 
younger and more   intellectual. The struggle has been going for 
three generations so they have to   shoulder this duty. We must 
encourage them. They should know how to lead and   how to educate 
their people."
  
  The KNU rankles at the frequent aspersions in Myanmar's government-
controlled   press that it is made up of separatist bandits against 
whom military actions are   justified. "The question of the Karen 
people is a political one and we feel it should   be solved by 
political means," Ba Thin said. "Reach an agreement, only then   
there can be a real peace, real reconciliation. When you start 
talking you must   start solving problems. It cannot be one-sided; 
there must be dialogue. We are   not separatists. We struggle for the 
establishment of a federal union where all the   minorities can enjoy 
equal rights."
  
  What serious dialog there has been, has not been with Yangon, but 
more with   dissident Myanmar prodemocracy activists who have 
sheltered in minority-   controlled areas. Many of these were 
students who fled after the 1988   massacres perpetrated against 
their colleagues by government soldiers. Though   obviously lacking 
power, they represent probably the first generation of educated   
Myanmars to both share and understand many minority concerns. There 
is hope   for the future. However, any linkup between the minorities 
and domestic   dissidents makes the junta see red. A 1997 Ethnic 
Nationalities Seminar in Karen   territory, followed by the playing 
of a video tape made by Aung San Suu Kyi   wearing traditional Karen 
dress, led to massive Myanmar military retaliation upon   KNU 
positions.
  
  From time to time the KNU, feeling pressure from Thailand or 
otherwise seeking   an end to fighting, has engaged in cease-fire 
talks with Yangon. They have not   ruled out doing so again in the 
future. The last talks, in 1997, ended in failure   when Yangon 
insisted the KNU lay down its arms, or basically surrender, and   
return to the "legal fold," implying their 50-year struggle was 
illegal. Ba Thin was   not at the negotiations but was clearly upset 
by Yangon's demands.
   
  "What kind of legal fold is this?" he asked rhetorically. "You are 
a military   dictatorship. You don't even have a constitution for the 
country yet. Where are   the rules, laws and regulations? There is 
only the law of the jungle." 
   
  For the displaced Karen in Thailand, life is getting harder. The 
camps are dead   ends and security is relative. Talk of repatriation 
is in the air and now the United   Nations High Commission for 
Refugees is involved in the refugee issue. Many   Karen are afraid 
that any repatriation won't be voluntary, although the UNHCR   and 
some Thai officials insist it will be. They feel that, typically, an 
important   issue affecting minority concerns is being decided over 
their heads. On this issue   Ba Thin said,  "My view is clear, unless 
and until we can solve the political   problems of this country, it 
will be hopeless." Meanwhile the war goes on.   

  When political expression leads to jail
  
  Bo Kyi speaks English in a soft voice. He learned it the hard way, 
unable to see   his teacher. They were political prisoners in 
adjoining cells in Myanmar's   Thayawaddy Prison. His teacher 
whispered to him while the guards were away.   Then Bo Kyi used a 
piece of brick to write out new words on his cell wall.    

  If the ethnic question represents one side of Myanmar's profound 
social failure,   the lack of political consensus is the other. 
Freedom of expression does not exist.   To call or campaign for 
political rights often means jail. At least 2,500 political   
prisoners are currently in some 20 prisons throughout Myanmar.    

  Bo Kyi, a student political activist, was first arrested in Yangon 
on March 16,   1990 and sentenced to three years with hard labor. 
After his release, he was   rearrested again on July 17, 1994 and 
given the same sentence. He served his   sentences at three prisons: 
Insein, Mandalay, and Thayawaddy. After the second   release, 
military intelligence officers visited his home at least once a week 
to   discuss his "opinions' and often threatened him with rearrest. 
When they came to   his house to do just that on August 28, 1999, 
luckily he was away.   

  Now Bo Kyi is in Thailand. He and 14 other ex-political prisoners 
have formed an   organization called the Safeguard Association for 
Political Prisoners in Burma.   The organization has five goals: to 
report on the oppression of political prisoners;   to encourage 
international support; to secure human rights for political 
prisoners;   to protect them from intimidation after release and; to 
aid them after release, both   mentally and physically. Their 
organization is providing concerned NGOs like   Amnesty International 
with information on prison conditions.   

  And those conditions are bad. The regime mixes political prisoners 
with common   criminals and encourages the latter to take advantage 
of the former. Food is   monotonous and inadequate: rice, curry, fish 
paste and a watery, ersatz soup   called "talapaw."  "We cannot 
survive on only the food given by the jail, it's not   enough," said 
Bo Kyi. "We depend on our families. Mine provided me (with food)   
regularly twice a month so I was able to share with my comrades."   

  Not all families can afford to help their imprisoned relatives and 
some jails are   isolated. Bo Kyi spoke of Myingyan Prison, in 
central Myanmar, as one where   conditions were much worse. No one 
wanted to be sent there.   

  "That area is very hot in summer and very cold in winter. Each 
prisoner is   allowed just two pieces of clothing and one blanket. In 
other prisons you can   share your food but not in Myingyan. If your 
family can't support you, you will eat   only the food given by the 
prison." One of Bo Kyi's friends, Saw Eh Dah,   sickened and died 
there, after just one year of malnutrition and severe beatings.   

  Beatings are frequent in Myanmar's jails. Sometimes it's for 
surreal infractions,   like failure to capture a quota of 100 flies 
in a day. Other times it's for political   activity, real or 
suspected. Additional intimidation techniques used in these jails   
include sleep deprivation, blindfolding, and isolation in small, 
excessively bright   or darkened, cells.
  
  Aside from the brutal elements of prison life, just getting through 
each day   requires mental strength. "Time is slow," Bo Kyi 
says. "Today, tomorrow,   yesterday are the same. The typical life is 
routine. I am awakened at 5:30 in the   morning. At that time I must 
sit on my knees for at least 30 minutes. Then I walk   around the 
room. Since, as you know, I am a Buddhist, sometimes I make   
meditation. I try to think about what was wrong in the past and what 
was right."   
  The recent arrest and imprisonment of two British nationals, James 
Mawdsley   and Rachel Goldwyn, briefly focused world attention on 
Myanmar's jails. Goldwyn   was eventually let go but Bo Kyi and his 
comrades had difficulty understanding   some of her reasoning upon 
release. She seemed out of her depth. Mawdsley   was a much different 
matter. "Especially him, he is now in Kengtung Prison and   we really 
do honor him, for his courage and what he is doing there."   
  The SAPPB possess a poster of Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's 
democracy   leader, with her words, "There will be change because all 
the military have are   guns." Ironically, one of the SAPPB members 
was a private in the Myanmar   Army in 1988. He refused to fire on 
the crowds of pro-democracy demonstrators   and deserted. For that he 
was sentenced to twelve years in jail. (R.H.)   

  Risking death with every step, every day
  
  "We are full of love for you but cannot take care of all."    -from 
a notice to Karen villagers that landmines would bet set on their land

     During World War One, military personnel comprised 90 percent of 
deaths, and   civilians the other 10. In today's warfare, that ratio 
has been reversed. One big   reason has been the proliferation of 
landmines. They are cheap, portable, and   maim or kill very 
effectively.
  
  In Myanmar's Karen State, all sides to the ethnic conflict use 
landmines. The   Karen National Union's armed wing, the Karen 
National Liberation Army, uses   them to protect their supply lines 
and to harass their enemies. Those enemies,   government forces of 
Myanmar's State Peace and Development Council and   those of its 
ally, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, which split from the KNU   
in 1995, use them in much larger numbers and far more 
indiscriminately.   
  The KNLA tries to warn villagers where not to go, such as which 
trail is   dangerous, but does not specify where mines are placed. 
Villagers still step on   them. Neither the SPDC nor the DKBA give 
even a warning. The results are   deaths, injuries and fear for the 
many innocent civilians who have stepped on   mines or risk doing so 
every day.
  
  The KNLA largely relies on homemade mines, made of bamboo and 
filled with   steel pellets and explosives. According to the Karen 
Human Rights Group, an   independent NGO which monitors human-rights 
violations in the conflict area, the   SPDC and DKBA were using 
imported Chinese models, but now mostly use ones   made in Myanmar, 
with factories and technology  again supplied by China. The   most 
deadly type is the MMI, based on a Chinese design called PMOZ-2, 
which   was widely used in Cambodia. It is known as the "corncob" 
because of its shape   but there the similarity ends. The MMI is 
sometimes attached to a post above   ground and hidden in tall grass. 
It is activated by a tripwire, with the purpose   being to kill or 
maim more that one person.
  
  The message at the beginning was from a DKBA commander to a Karen 
village.   Compounding the fear that these villagers face in their 
daily tasks are other mine-   related worries. SPDC soldiers will 
often dragoon villagers into forced labor as   army porters or human 
minesweepers. If they tell the soldiers that the particular   path 
they're on is dangerous, they are often told to simply keep walking, 
in front   of course, or branded as KNU/KNLA supporters. It becomes a 
Hobson's choice   whether to say something or keep quiet. Either way 
they face the probability of   an unpleasant fate. (R.H.)


____________________________________________________


SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST: CURIOUS POWER OF 'THE LADY'

Saturday, May 27, 2000
  

 
[Photo] Champion of democracy: Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San 
Suu Kyi's  party won 80 per cent of the vote a decade ago but has 
been denied power by  the nation's military junta.

By William Barnes 

Ten years ago today, the Burmese people voted in a surprisingly 
unambiguous  majority in a rare general election for opposition 
leader Aung San Suu Kyi  and her National League for Democracy (NLD). 

The ruling generals responded by declaring that it could not transfer 
power  because the elected representatives could only be responsible 
for drawing up  a new constitution. 

The NLD did not accept this argument, but did say that a new 
constitution  could be hammered out within a couple of months. The 
military has a rather  slower timetable in mind - a decade on and a 
stage-managed constitutional  convention still has not finished its 
work. 

In the meantime, a misleadingly delicate woman in traditional wrap-
around  skirt and blouse and an orchid in her hair has put up what 
the world sees as  transparently magnificent resistance to a sinister 
regime.  
She is defiance incarnate - a charismatic spirit facing an obdurate 
wall  erected by people whose deepest instincts are to control and to 
restrict. Any  observer would need a heart of stone not to be 
affected by the extraordinary  chutzpah of a woman who has willingly, 
and at no little personal cost, become  the embodiment of a nation's 
desire for change - to use Ms Suu Kyi's own  words, "for freedom and 
happiness". 

Yet some veteran Burma watchers now wonder whether the Nobel Peace 
prize  winner's famous defiance might not in itself be an obstacle to 
progress. "A  number of people feel her stand on principle makes it 
very difficult to have  a stand on politics," said Robert Taylor, the 
vice-chancellor of the  University of Buckingham, in England. 

Ultimately, he argued, politics was the art of compromise and that  
negotiations would never have got anywhere in Northern Ireland or 
South  Africa if both sides had not displayed a willingness to be 
flexible.  

Aung San Suu Kyi has strongly rejected suggestions that she 
is "inflexible" -  complaining that her only request is that talks 
should be without  preconditions. 

But with hindsight many observers do argue - mostly privately on 
this  delicate matter - that the opposition could have spelt out in a 
much clearer  way what sort of position the military might occupy in 
the future.  

Ms Suu Kyi has reminded the generals that the army was founded by her 
father,  the independence hero Aung San, and has strongly hinted at 
reconciliation.  But she has refrained from outlining what kind of 
role the military might  have, so as not to pre-empt negotiations and 
wider political participation.  

Many people wish that it was possible to engage in a debate about the 
merits  of this or that course of action. The nature of the police 
state makes such a  debate difficult, to say the least, inside Burma, 
but even within exile and  international circles the "beauty versus 
the beast" polarisation effectively  trumps any attempt to question 
her methods. 

"The moral high ground is a very difficult place to occupy. It makes 
it  difficult to disagree with her on tactics because that means you 
undercut her  position," said Professor David Steinberg, director of 
Asian Studies at  Georgetown University in the United States. 

There is also the blunt fact that half a century of mostly 
repressive  government since independence from British colonialism 
has not enabled Burma  to produce political institutions capable of 
absorbing any dissenting views  or loyal opposition. 

"The opposition also exhibits characteristics that seem rather 
intolerant or  an inimical to the development of democratic 
processes," Mary Callahan, an  American academic expert on the 
Burmese military, wrote recently.  

Ms Callahan cited as an example the expulsion of two members from the 
NLD in  1997 - Than Tun and Thein Kyi - who had called for the 
opening of dialogue  with the regime. "To get compromise you must not 
always stick to principles,"  said Than Tun. The NLD said it had 
strong evidence that the pair were stooges  for the junta. 

Many observers have privately described the stand-off between the 
military  and Ms Suu Kyi as "very Burmese". If Ms Suu Kyi sometimes 
appears unbending,  this is likely to be at least partly because her 
hardcore supporters demand a  tough stance. 

Nevertheless there is little doubt that the stand-off between her and 
the  military has a very personal edge to it. They really do not seem 
to like her.  
Perhaps this is partly because she "insulted" their patron - the 
former  dictator, Ne Win - a decade ago. Perhaps because she has 
constantly reminded  the army that it had a much more limited role 
during Burma's brief democratic  era. Perhaps it is because when she 
talks freedom, they talk control. And  perhaps it is because the 
sentiment is reciprocated against a group she  blames for the dire 
state of the nation. 

Yet only dreamy exiles currently imagine that an army that has nearly 
tripled  in size over the past decade is simply going to fade away. 
Some analysts have  suggested the current, enervating impasse might 
be unlocked when Ne Win - who  was 89 this week - dies. 

This now looks unlikely. Ms Suu Kyi does arouse a surprising degree 
of  irritation in Rangoon among many Burmese officials and 
intellectuals, as well  as foreign businessmen and even some 
diplomats. Faced with a regime that  shows no sign of bending, she is 
perhaps the easier target.  
The bulk of the population do still seem to harbour a unique 
affection for  "The Lady" - something the regime seems determined 
never to test by holding  free elections again. 

The first independence premier, U Nu, tried to build unity through 
Buddhism.  Ne Win imposed his own quirky brand of socialism. But the 
self-styled State  Peace and Development Committee has nothing so 
subtle - just army rule.  

Mr Taylor said he was "very depressed" about Burma's prospects. The 
United  Nations is trying to offer the ruling generals financial and 
aid "carrots" in  exchange for some lifting of the jackboot. Regime 
spokesmen rebuffed initial  proposals as "bananas offered to 
monkeys". 

Professor Steinberg has suggested that the NLD and the military 
might  co-operate - to break the ice - on some "neutral" national 
project such as a  campaign against the terrible explosion of HIV. On 
past form both sides will  reject the notion as giving succour to an 
opponent who appears to be  weakening. 

Mr Taylor said this might be the time for the NLD to unhook itself 
from the  1990 election which was, after all, "a decade ago now". 
This is certainly  what the military would like. 

Maureen Aung-Thwin, who runs the Burma Project for the Soros 
Foundation,  said: "No, this has to be the key issue because in the 
end it's really about  law and order, legitimacy, and the will of the 
people. It will be up to the  NLD to call the election history . . . 
but it's their call, not the junta's  or the UN's." 

One Rangoon-based diplomat said he was puzzled that a trait that in 
British  Prime Minister Tony Blair was seen as necessary toughness 
was viewed by some  as unhelpful stubbornness in Ms Suu Kyi. "You 
can't take away from her the  fact that she won 80 per cent of the 
seats in a general election when she was  already under house 
arrest," he argued. 

Ms Aung-Thwin added: "She has managed to keep intimidated one of the 
world's  most experienced, battle-hardened, biggest armies. Why are 
half-a-million  armed men afraid of a 90-pound unarmed woman? 

"She has kept the world's spotlight on Burma's plight. Without her, 
Burma  would long ago have had its 15 seconds of fame." 

William Barnes is the Post's Bangkok correspondent 
(wbarnes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx). 


____________________________________________________


SHRF: TV AND VIDEO OWNERS REQUIRED TO PAY TAXES IN MURNG-SART [Shan 
State]

Shan Human Rights Foundation

>From May 2000 Monthly Human Rights Report

        In April 2000, people who owned TV and Video sets in Murng-
Ton and Murng-Sart townships [Shan State]  were required to pay taxes 
to the military authorities.  On 27.3.00, the Deputy Commander of 
Military Tactical Command in Murng-Sart issued an order to village 
and community leaders in the township to provide lists of people who 
either owned TV or Video sets or both.     On 1.4.00, the Commander 
issued another order requiring the civilian leaders to collect taxes 
on TV and Video sets from the owners and bring them to the base of 
IB49 in Murng-Sart no later than 15.4.00. Any headmen or leaders who 
failed to provide the tax money before the specified date would face 
severe punishment.   In Murng-Ton, similar orders were issued 
virtually at the same time by the military authorities in the 
township. The taxes were fixed at 2,000 Kyat per TV set per year. The 
same amount was set for Video sets, but those who used their Video 
sets for "Karaoke" entertainment were required to pay an additional 
2,000 Kyat per set.  Owners who failed to pay the taxes on time would 
be fined and their machines confiscated, said the orders. 

____________________________________________________



KARENNI NEWS: NEWS FROM INSIDE KARENNI 

Karenni News Agency for Human Rights

May 31, 2000

SPDC troops from LIB 516 led by Lieutenant Colonel Saw Shwe entered 
Kwa Kee village in no. 2 District of Karenni and shot at the 
villagers. Saw Ku Ku, aged 24, escaped with a wound. 2 villagers were 
arrested but released later on the same day. 

Battle News

At Hway Pulong, near the Thai border, during fighting between the 
SPDC LIB 428 led by Captain Win Myint and Karenni troops, one SPDC 
soldier was killed. There were no Karenni casualties. 
Another battle occurred very close to Karenni refugee camp #3. Over 
the past week there have been several attacks along the Thai-Karenni 
border. There have been attacks near all of the refugee camps. The 
SPDC troops are moving closer to and are attacking the Karenni 
strongholds on the border. This is threatening to both the people in 
Karenni and the refugees in Thailand who are within earshot of the 
attacks.  



____________________________________________________







__________________ INTERNATIONAL __________________
		

NIKKEI SHINBUM [JAPAN]: KHIN NYUNT WILL ATTEND OBUCHI'S FUNERAL

May 30, 2000

Myanmar SPDC First Secretary will attend the former Prime Minister 
Obuchi's funeral. Number Three of the military government

An attempt to maintain a relation with the biggest financial 
supporter 

               The first secretary of the State Peace and Development 
Council (SPDC), Khin Nyunt, who holds the third position in the power 
hierarchy within Myanmar's military regime, will attend the former 
Prime Minster Obuchi's funeral organised jointly by the cabinet and 
the Liberal Democratic Party on 8 June.  The information was released 
by a foreign official.  The first secretary is in charge of issues 
such as Myanmar's foreign relations, internal order and racial 
problems.  He will be the highest official who will have ever visited 
Japan from Myanmar since the military regime started with a coup in 
1988. 

              The United States and the European Community (EU) have 
been economically sanctioning Myanmar as they accuse its military 
government for suppressing democratisation.  Japan has joined the 
sanction and frozen its official development aid (ODA).  However, 
Myanmar's military government decided to dispatch one of the highest 
executive officials to the former prime minister's funeral, as it 
wishes to remain good terms with its biggest financial supporter, 
Japan.  The first secretary plans to arrive on 7 June and stay one 
night in Japan.(Kiyoshi Noma, Bangkok) 


____________________________________________________

  
NATION:  BURMA CALLED ON FOR PROTECTION 

May 31, 2000

  HUMAN Rights Watch yesterday urged the Burmese and Bangladeshi   
governments to take immediate action in providing protection for the 
Muslim   Rohingya refugees who have fled the Arakan State to take 
refuge in Bangladesh.   

  The statement came as a planned trip to Dhaka by the chief of 
Burma's ruling   junta General Than Shwe was abruptly cancelled on 
Monday.    Gary Risser, a researcher for Human Rights Watch in Asia, 
said that Burma   should improve the treatment of the Rohingya, who 
had suffered abuses in their   own country. 

  The new 29 page report said the Rohingya refugee problem lacked 
a "durable   solution". 

  Gen Than Shwe had planned to pay a state visit to Dhaka on Monday 
and return   today. 
  Between1991 and 1992 over 250,000 Rohingya fled Burma and sought 
refuge in   Bangladesh. Although most have been repatriated under a 
programme launched   by the United Nations High Commissioner for 
Refugees, about 22,000 remain in   refugee camps. 

  Meanwhile in Geneva delegates to the International Labour 
Conference, which   started yesterday, may decide to call on 
companies, trade unions, international   bodies and states to review 
their ties with Burma to ensure that they do not   contribute to the 
use of forced labour. 

  Measures to have Burma stop the use of forced and compulsory labour 
will be   presented to the 3,000 delegates attending the conference, 
which ends on June   15. This would ask affiliates of the 
International Labour Office (ILO) to ensure   dealings with Burma in 
no way fostered forced labour. 

  In March the ILO governing body decided that Burma had made no 
progress in   ending the widespread use of forced labour, despite 
promises to do so, and   invoked for the first time an ILO article 
allowing it to recommend measures to   oblige the country to comply. 

  Burma was to have responded to concerns raised by an ILO committee 
of inquiry   last year. 

  Last week an ILO mission held discussions with the junta on the 
implementation   of the panel's recommendations, which included that 
no more forced or   compulsory labour be imposed by the authorities. 
The mission will present its   report to the conference. 


____________________________________________________


HINDUSTAN TIMES [INDIA]: ULFA SHIFTS 3 MAIN CAMPS TO ARUNACHAL

Utpal Parashar
Guwahati, May 29

May 30, 2000

Fresh moves by Bhutan and Myanmar against militant outfits based in 
their areas have forced the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) to 
look for new camp sites in Arunachal Pradesh.

Official sources state that following recent counter-offensives 
launched by the Myanmarese Army, the ULFA has recently shifted three 
main camps along with nearly 100 cadres to the border areas of 
Arunachal Pradesh. 

The Bhutan government's recent threats to use force to evict militant 
outfits based in their soil have also pressurised the ULFA to look 
for new places to set up camps for training their cadres, sources 
stated. 

The first ULFA camps in Myanmar were set up 15 years ago with the 
help of Kachin Independent Army (KIA), a local militant group which 
was also instrumental in providing training and arms to ULFA and many 
other militant outfits of the region.

"With the surrender of many senior leaders in the past few months, 
the KIA suffered huge setbacks and reached an agreement with the 
Myanmar government recently. Following this agreement, the Myanmarese 
Army launched counter-offensive against the militant outfits from 
India based there. This is the main reason why ULFA is shifting camps 
to Arunachal," said an official.

The move to shift camps to Arunachal Pradesh is also the result of 
strict vigil by the Royal Bhutan Army in the past few weeks. Last 
month, the Bhutan Government assured India that it would not allow 
the Indian militant outfits to operate from its soil.

The assurance came after reports of King Jigme Singhye Wangchuck, 
having breakfast with the ULFA cadres in camps located in Bhutan 
appeared in many newspapers. The Bhutan government denied the reports 
and stated that its government would never support any outfit 
operating from Bhutan.


_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________
 

NLM: SEMINAR ON BOND MARKET OPENS

New Light of Myanmar

YANGON, 29 May-Seminar on Bond Market jointly sponsored by Ministry 
of Finance and Revenue, Tokyo Stock Exchange of Ministry of Finance 
of Japan and Myanmar Securities Exchange Centre Co Ltd was held at 
the Traders Hotel this morning. 

Minister U Khin Maung Thein said capital market plays a pivotal role 
in investment of market-oriented economic system and effective use of 
the investment market Bonds are important investment in capital 
market like stock and share, he added. Director Mr Yoichi Takahashi 
of Institute of Fiscal and Monetary Policy and Director Mr Hironori 
Sento of Tokyo Stock Exchange explained matters related to the 
seminar.The seminar continues tomorrow.

____________________________________________________


ALGEMEEN DAGBLAD (NETHERLANDS): ABP REVIEWS IHC STOCK

27 MAY 2000


The ABP, the Netherlands' largest pension fund, will decide next week 
if it
will continue to invest in IHC Caland.  This was ABP's reaction after 
the
shareholders' meeting yesterday where the ship and offshore builder 
stated
unequivocally that it would continue with its activities in Burma.

"We would do it all over again, as long as we don't abuse human 
rights. We
are not a party," said Langman, the head of the supervisory board.  
Two
political parties, PvdA and D66, have brought this issue to the 
Parliament.
Langman remarked somewhat cynically that he was "happy that ABP was 
still
investing in the Netherlands."

About the unexpected resignation of Aad de Ruyter, the president of 
IHC
Caland, Langman said that, "Both sides made an error of judgement."
Sources from the top of the company stated that there was a great
difference of opinion about a  strategy for the future, and that 
there was
conflict between him and the former president, J. D. Bax.  He also 
wanted
mergers with other companies.


____________________________________________________
	



HET FINANCIELE DAGBLAD [NETHERLANDS]: [MORE ON IHC'S BURMA INVESTMENT]

27 May 2000,


"IT IS NOT EASY TO SUCCEED BAX"

It seemed like a well-planned distraction technique from the ship and
offshore building company IHC Caland.  A completedly unexpected
announcement of  the resignation of president-director Aad de Ruyter
preceded the shareholders' meeting on Friday.  However, the criticism 
of
controversial activities in Burma did not die down.

"It is not easy to succeed Bax," said H. Langman, the head of the
supervisory board yesterday at the annual shareholders' meeting, 
meaning
Bax, the predecessor of the just new president-director A. de Ruyter. 
What
was he trying to say? "Bax is an extraordinary person who made the 
company
flower," was his answer.

The resignation of De Ruyter, according to the supervisory board of 
which
Bax is also a member,  has nothing to do with a difference of 
opinion. The
president stepped down for personal reasons, clarifies the official
explanation. In hindsight, De Ruyter's past experience was not 
compatible
with the company's activities...

According to Langman, the company does not feel  the pressure from
investors that do not agree with IHC Caland's business in BUrma.   
After
detailed correspondence with the human rights organization Burma 
Centrum
Nederland, ABN Amro had sold all of its shares in IHC Caland by the 
end of
April. But this week the bank assured Langman via letter that the 
Burma
question did not play a role in its decision.

Rene Maatman, the legal advisor of the pension fund ABP, believes
differently. The code of conduct that was established by IHC Caland 
under
De Ruyter last year is praiseworthy,  but the importance lies in the
implication of it, he says.  "In IHC Caland,  there is one important 
risk
that remains unmentionend: a risk of reputation."

"Corruption and human rights violations are daily occurrences in many
countries that IHC Caland does business with," Maatman said at the
shareholders' meeting.   If the security of a project  leads to the 
abuse
of human rights, then inclusion in that project is unacceptable, he 
said.
This damage of reputation shall surely affect other shareholders.  
The IHC
stock owned by the ABP will be reconsidered at the directors' meeting 
in a
few weeks, said Maatman.

Langman seemed to remain unimpressed. "There is no difficulty in 
losing one
shareholder as long as there are others willing to fill the place," he
said. "As long as we do not abuse human rights, we would sign another
similar contract. God only knows why most of the oil and gas is to be 
found
in countries without democracy."
-by Alexander Weissink

 translated and condensed by Burma Centrum Nederland




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