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BurmaNet News: April 24, 1995 [#155



Subject: BurmaNet News: April 24, 1995 [#155]


------------------------- BurmaNet ---------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
--------------------------------------------------------------
The BurmaNet News: 24 APRIL 1995
Issue #155
--------------------------------------------------------------
NOTED IN PASSING:

          Under the terms of our current policy in Burma, any
          businessman who  contacts a U.S. Government official to
          discuss business prospects in Burma is briefed on the
          documented violations of human rights in Burma.  For
          investors considering projects in extractive sectors
          and projects of longer duration, the U.S. Government
          officer will emphasize the strong possibility  that a
          successor government could cancel an arrangement made
          with the current Burmese government.
                    U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher
                    <See USG: WARREN CHRISTOPHER'S LETTER TO AFL-
                    CIO>


Contents:
--------------------------------------------------------------
CONTACT REQUESTS
USG: WARREN CHRISTOPHER'S LETTER TO AFL-CIO
SCB: PORTLAND DEMONSTRATION APR. 29
BURMANET: LETTER--"PLAYING POLITICS"
JAPAN TIMES: LETTER--"THERE IS NO DILEMMA IN BURMA"
THE NATION: THAILAND SEALS BORDER STRETCH WITH BURMA
THE NATION/AFP: BURMA CLASH SENDS 500 FLEEING INTO THAILAND
THE NATION: DEFECTORS KIDNAP KAREN REFUGEES, BURN 30 HOUSES
BKK POST: THAI TROOPS CLOSED BURMA BORDER IN 3 NORTH PROVINCES
BKK POST: LETTER--CHUAVINIST THAILAND IS AN OPTION
BKK POST: LEADERS TO SEE NON-MEMBERS IN PRE-ASEAN SUMMIT MEET
BKK POST: SLORC SENDS MUSLIM BUSINESSES OUT OF THE CITY INTO THE
          WILDERNESS
BKK POST: BURMESE 'BEING REFUGEES HARASSED
NATION: THAILAND SEALS BORDER STRETCH WITH BURMA
BKK POST: BURMA CLASH SENDS 500 FLEEING INTO THAILAND
BKK POST: BURMESE REBELS DECLARE HOLY WAR AGAINST GOVT
BKK POST: INTRUDERS THREATEN TO ATTACK KAREN CAMP
AP: INTERNET USED IN FIGHT FOR FREEDOM
BURMANEWS-L MAILING LIST IS ON-LINE
BURMANET SUBJECT-MATTER RESOURCE LIST

--------------------------------------------------------------
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In Washington:

  Attention to BurmaNet
   c/o National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma
  (NCGUB)
  Information Office
  815 15th Street NW, Suite 609
  Washington D.C. 20005
  Tel: (202) 393-7342, Fax: (202) 393-7343

In Bangkok:
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The NCGUB is a government-in-exile, formed by representatives
of the people that won the election in 1990.

Burma Issues is a Bangkok-based non-governmental organization
that documents human rights conditions in Burma and maintains
an archive of Burma-related documents.  Views expressed in The
BurmaNet News do not necessarily reflect those of either NCGUB
or Burma Issues.

--------------------------------------------------------------
CONTACT REQUEST 003

If there are any Kachins or students of post-Colonial Kachin
history, please contact burmanet@xxxxxxxxxxx (attn Contact 003).

--------------------------------------------------------------
USG: WARREN CHRISTOPHER'S LETTER TO AFL-CIO
[The American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial
Organizations is the largest trade union congress in the United
States--editor]

April 5, 1995

Mr. Lane Kirkland
President, AFL-CIO
815 16th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C.  20006

Dear Lane:

        Thank you very much for your letter of February 6 in which
you urge  trade sanctions for Burma as a response to continuing
human rights  violations by the Burmese junta. 

        We share your concern about the policies of the State Law
and Order  Restoration Council (SLORC) of Burma.  The SLORC
continues to rule Burma  with a heavy hand.  We were troubled by
the Burmese Army's recent attacks on  the Karen minority at
Manerplaw and Kawmura.  The White House and Department  of State
issued public statements on these attacks, and we made our views 
clear in two tough diplomatic approaches to the Burmese
authorities in  Rangoon and one here in Washington.  

        The U.S. Government maintains a range of sanctions against
Burma.   We have refrained from sending an ambassador to Rangoon,
have suspended our  aid program, do not provide trade preferences,
and have refused to certify  Burma as a country cooperating with
us to suppress narcotics.  Moreover, we  have led the
international fora to condemn human rights abuses by the regime 
and have urged the UN to conduct a political dialogue with the
Burmese  leadership.  

        Under the terms of our current policy in Burma, any
businessman who  contacts a U.S. Government official to discuss
business prospects in Burma is briefed on the documented
violations of human rights in Burma.  For investors considering
projects in extractive sectors and projects of longer  duration,
the U.S. Government officer will emphasize the strong possibility 
that a successor government could cancel an arrangement made with
the  current Burmese government. 

        In addition, important U.S. Government programs that have
the effect  of encouraging investment and U.S. exports, e.g., OPIC
insurance and Eximbank  financing, are not available in Burma. 
Burma is clearly a country where  there is a substantial political
risk to investment.  In addition, Burma  lacks the most basic
infrastructure, such as a functioning phone system and  a
competent international banking system for smooth trade financing. 
Thus,  the absence of United States Government programs to insure
investments and  facilitate trade and project finance is a
formidable practical barrier to  many investors, and almost
certainly restrains investment and business  between Burma and the
United States. 

        The United States is also required by law to vote against
assistance  to Burma from international financial institutions. 
Partly as a result of  this factor, Burma receives very little in
the way of project assistance  from international lending
agencies, and this fact also militates against  U.S. business or
investment in Burma. 

        You urge a full trade and investment embargo against
Burma.  To be  effective such an embargo would need international
backing.  We have  regularly explored whether there would be
support for such an embargo with  our allies, and with Burma's
major trading and investment partners in Asia.   We have found no
interest in a UN embargo.  Indeed, many of Burma's largest 
trading and investment partners argue for more trade an investment
and  profess to believe that more interaction with the world
economy and with  states where political diversity is respected
will encourage change for the  better in Burma.  

        I remain interested in sharing ideas with you as we
continue to  pursue the difficult issue of how best to promote
democratization and  respect for human rights in Burma. 

Sincerely, 

(signed)

Warren Christopher

--------------------------------------------------------------
THE NATION: THAILAND SEALS BORDER STRETCH WITH BURMA
April 23
Agency France-press

The Thai military has sealed off a 500 km stretch of the border 
with Burma to prove Thailand does not support any of the ethnic
groups fighting the Rangoon government, a senior officer said
yesterday.

Maj Gen Pairoj Wannatrong announced the border closure as a
spokesman for the Karen National Union [KNU] said he had reports
that renegade Karen guerrillas had sneaked across the border and
abducted five refugees from a camp in Tha Song Yang district of
Tak province .
 
Pairoj, a member of the Naresuan Task Force, said that the unit
had closed all legal border crossings in the three provinces it
patrols- Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Song .

Thai soldiers began closing the check-points in keeping with Thai
government policy after members of the Maung Tai Army [MTA] of
drug warlord Khun Sa attacked the Burmese border town of Tachilek
on March 20, Pairoj said . 

Some of the fighting between the MTA and Burmese troops
garrisoned at Tachilek spilled over onto the Thai side of the Mae
Sai river, and some of the rebels crossed into Thailand in a bid
to get behind the soldiers . Thai soldiers promptly disarmed the
guerrillas and sent them back to Burma .

Thai merchants along the border have protested the closure of the
crossing points, saying most of their clients are Burmese and
keeping them away is bad for business.


--------------------------------------------------------------
SCB: PORTLAND DEMONSTRATION APR. 29

soc.culture.burma
brischmidt@xxxxxxx

To all friends of Burma:
  The Pepsi-Burma Boycott Committee is holding a boycott
demonstration in front of Pepsi owned Kentucky Fried Chicken, 21st
and West Burnside, April 29 at 12 noon. We'll have signs and pass
out flyers to people (no plans to do the shouting stuff, we want
to get information out).
   Please come to hand out info or just to talk, make signs if you
want (using humor is great even if we're dealing with life and
death).   RSVP if you want but not needed - you can just show up.

Hope to see you there!
-Brian Schmidt
Pepsi-Burma Boycott Committee

--------------------------------------------------------------
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: "PLAYING POLITICS"
Date: Sun, 23 Apr 1995 10:42:38 -0700

Dear BurmaNet Editor,

I am pleased to know that General Bo Mya sent letter to
Reconciliation committees set up by SLORC and called on SLORC to
be sincere in peace negotiation as previous rounds of talk always
failed to yield positive result. On the other hand when I read
about the remarks made by Deputy Foreign Minister Nyunt Swe to
reporters after meeting with Thai Foreign Minister Kra Chana
Wonge, I do not feel much optimistic about the  negotiation. Nyunt
Swe said that it was not nececessary to have Thai mediator in
negotiation and warned the Karen Garilla and opposition  parties
not to play politics. In that case I am wondering how you can make
negotiation without politics. My understanding of negotiation is
the  discussion of the political future of the people involved and
in the  process we make bargains, compromise, give and take till
all parties reach agreement. Without politics involved I am not
sure if I would call  it negotiation.

Another thing that worry me is that the SLORC did not want any
mediator or any third party involved in negotiation process. Due
to the edge in military superiority at this time and wihtout
mediator, SLORC may be tempted to coers, intimidate, blackmail and
demand which will not be acceptable to the other parties. Finally,
SLORC will walk out from the negotiation table and say that the
opposition parties are not sincere and brandishing them with
"playing politics". Then the SLORC will start offensive against
the gerilla and opposition troops and the circle of mistakes will
be repeated again.

I therefore, earnestly call upon SLORC to rethink about the wisdom
of negotiation and make use of the best opportunity at hand to
achieve true reconciliation and lasting peace for the people in
the Union of Myanma.

Yours Sincerely,
Saw Aung Khin 


--------------------------------------------------------------
JAPAN TIMES: LETTER--THERE IS NO DILEMMA IN BURMA
 Sunday, April 23 


The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency needs a new script ("Time to
attack drug lords in Myanmar," March 27). It has just cast the
Golden Triangle's Khun Sa to replace Panama's Manuel Noriega and
Colombia's Pablo Escobar as the newest villain in the DEA's oldest
farce: "If We Just Get This One Bad Guy, We'll Win the War on
Drugs."

Khun Sa is certainly a bad guy, but he is neither the richest nor
the most powerful element in the Golden Triangle drug trade, only
the most visible and expendable.

What's more, he owes his career to the people who now say they
want to end it: the Burmese military junta. In 1963, this
half-Chinese opium trader was one of many to accept this offer
from Rangoon: Turn your guns against the political opposition in
Shan State and we'll let you use government-controlled roads for
your opium convoys.

Using weapons funded by the opium trade, Chang Chifu did the dirty
work of the dictatorship and in the process adopted the role of
Khun Sa, Shan freedom fighter. Quite a performance.

Nor is the U.S. government clean. During the Cold War, its covert
support of remnants of the Kuomintang in Shan State set in motion
the vicious circle of arms-for-drugs, drugs-for-arms that plunged
the once peaceful region into anarchy.

Opium thus became the major export of the Golden Triangle as a
result of decades of conflict and foreign intervention. Why then
is the DEA proposing as a solution more conflict and foreign
intervention? Why is the agency asking American tax-payers to aid
a regime that has profited from the drug trade for more than three
decades?

The choice between human rights and antinarcotics efforts in Burma
is a dilemma only in the minds of drug officials desperate to
salvage their budgets and reputations. Only when the Burmese
government responds to the grievances of its ethnic minorities
will farmers in Shan State be able to abandon the poppy fields in
the barren mountains and return to the paddy fields and fruit
orchards in the fertile valleys.

If the U.S. must launch air strikes in Burma, let the target be
SLORC, the junta that has stubbornly refused to honor the will of
the people, not Shan villagers who have suffered long enough under
both the Burmese Army and Khun Sa.

Carol Schlenker
Aung Thu
Ibara, Okayama


--------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------
THE NATION/AFP: BURMA CLASH SENDS 500 FLEEING INTO THAILAND
24.4.95


A Renewed clash between Burmese troops and opium warlord Khun Sa's
personnel Army has forces some 500 refugees to cross to Northern
Thailand, Thai television said yesterday. 

The refugee, mostly ethnic Shans, Akha and Muser hill tribesmen,
abandoned Pang Dao Tai village in northeastern Burma and headed
south for Thailand sfter Rangoon's attack against the Maung Tai
army (MTA) on Friday, Channel 7 said. 

The refugees took shelter at Mae Mo village in Mae Fa Luang sub-
district of Chaing Rai province.

The Burmese troops started attacking an MTA outpost on Par Chan
mountain and moved north to Pang Kai Nua and Pang Kan Tai
villages, Channel 7 said without specifying how many troops were
involved.

The firefight took place six kilometers from the Burmese-Thai
border and was clearing heard on the Thai side, it reported.  
A Thai rangers attached to the 18th Ranger Detachment from the Pak
Thong Garrison were dispatched to fortify the border area and
block further influx of refugees.(AFP)


--------------------------------------------------------------
THE NATION: DEFECTORS KIDNAP KAREN REFUGEES, BURN 30 HOUSES

22 April 1995

Five Karen refugees were kidnapped when a group of 20 Karen
guerrilla defectors sneaked across the border into their camp in
the northern province of Tak early on Wednesday, local
officials said yesterday.

The abductors also burnet down 30 houses at the Baan Mae Teun
refugee camp in tha song Yang district and threatened more
violence if the Karen asylum seekers, who are mainly Buddhist,
refuse to return to Burma, they said.

The fate and whereabouts of the five hostages, including two
ex-soldiers of the Karen National Union (KNU), was unknown as of
yesterday.

Border intelligence sources said the 20 armed KNU defectors, led
by Kya Pho, sneaked into the camp about 6 am while Thai security
forces were absent from the camp.

The abductors, who are followers of the Democratic Karen
Buddhist Organization (DKBO), wanted to force the Buddhist
refugees to support or join their new rival group which was
established in late December by a group of armed KNU Buddhist
troops who were unsatisfied with  Christian-led KNU
leadership, the sources said.

The DKBO intruders were believed to have crossed the Moei
River into Thailand  at night waiting for the right time to dodge
into the camp, according to the sources.

In a separate incident on April 6, two DKBO soldiers were
killed and two assault rifles seized when a DKBO team clashed with
Thai security forces at Bann Mae Sarid refugee camp in Tha Song
Yang district.

Sources said the DKBO have been terrorizing the camp for
several months, including kidnapping KNU refugee chiefs. This
forced thousands of refugees who had taken refuge in a dozen
border camps between Mae Hong Son and Tak to return to Burma.
About 100 refugees from Baan Mae Teun had already returned home,
fearing violence and harassment by the DKBO if they
continued to stay in Thailand, the sources said.

Associated Press adds: A Burmese Muslim lawyer has been
sentenced to five years in prison for holding a meeting on the
government's order to relocate an Islammic cemetery, student
rebels said yesterday. (TN)

--------------------------------------------------------------
BKK POST: THAI TROOPS CLOSED BURMA BORDER IN 3 NORTH PROVINCES

22 April 1995

Thai troops have closed a 500-kilometre stretch of the Thai-
Burmese border in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son
provinces, Naresuan Task Force commander Lt-Gen Thanom
Wacharaput said yesterday.

Thai border traders were effectively shut down more than 30
illegal crossing Thais and Burmese, he said, "but this ordered by
the Government which intends to prove that Thailand does not
support any Burmese ethnic minority group."

Lt-Gen Thanom said traders had asked him to re-open temporary
border passes to facilitate cross-border trading but he told them
only the Government could decide on the matter.

Although Burmese were reportedly in dire need of consumer
products, the Naresuan Task Force could only alow sick Burmese to
cross the border for treatment in Thai hospitals, he said, adding
that they had to return to Burma as soon as they
recovered.

Clashes between Burmese government forces and minority groups were
going on near the border and heavy fighting could be felt in
Chiang Rai, Lt-Gen Thanom said.

It was believed both Burmese government forces and opium
warlord Khun Sa's Mong tai Army were beefing up strength in
preparation for another round of fighting before the start of the
rainy season, he said.

The Naresuan Task Force was set up six months ago by the Third
Army Region in the face of increasing security problems in the
border areas of Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son due to
weapons smulling activities, drugs trafficking and illegal
immigration, Lt- Gen Thanom said.

The task force has so far seized large numbers of summgled
weapons, ammunition, rice and fuel from ethnic Burmese
minorities who were preparing themselves to fight Rangoon
troops, he said.

Meanwhile, a number of border traders in Mae Sai District of
Chiang Rai calle yesterday for an end to the border closure which
was hurting their businesses.

The total amount of money in circulation locally has decreased by
50 per cent following the border closure, according to
veeraSouthawatsunthorn , assistant manager of the Mae Sai
branch of the First Bangkok City Bank.

"The gem business has been afected as we cannot easily import gems
fro  m Burma. We have about 10 kilogrammes of Burmese gems now,
compared with a hundred kilos before," said
Thawatchai Anampong, chairman of the Gems wholesalers of Mae Sai. 

Mae Sai used to be a big gem-trading centre which drew
thousands of people in the business from Chanthaburi, Trat and
Kanchanaburi, said Mr Thawatchai, a former Chanthaburi MP. "If the
border remains closed, we may have to return home," he added. Many
groceries in Mae Sai have reportedly shut down. "Opening shops
during a border slosure is not profitable but incurs expenses on
sales staff," said the owner of Wannee
grocery in Mae Sai.

"All my clients are Burmese. Now fewer than ten of them visit my
shop daily. They also bought only small amounts of goods," she
said.

"Our sales have dropped by 90 per cent since the border
closure. We used to earn tens of thousands of baht a day, but the
income has dropped to only a few thousands of baht now," said the
owner of Santi Panich Namjaroen, a major wholesaler in Mae Sai.

The shop owner said she exported slippers to China via the Mae
Sai-Tachilek route in Burma.

"Now my business has come to a stop and will have to wait
until the border re-opens," she said. 

Singapore and China might replace Thailand as suppliers of
consumer products to Burma if Thai authorities fail to push fot
the reopening of the Thai-Burmese border, she said. (BP) 

--------------------------------------------------------------
BKK POST: LETTER--CHUAVINIST THAILAND IS AN OPTION
24 April 1995
 
Did Burmese soldiers enjoy themselves when on April 2 they shot
in the back and killed an incocent Thai on Thai soil? For more
than 30 years I've been hearing about Burmese atrocities, about
the murder and rape of tens of thousands of non-Burmese ethnic
groups.

The hundreds of thousands of refugees and illegal workers from
Burma living in Thailand are testimony to this fact. The
ethnic cleansing policy of the Burmese is causing hardship for the
ethnic minorities, who are spilling into this country. Burma's
State Law and Oreder Restoration Council was worsted in the recent
fighting with the Mong Tai Army last month.
For this the Burmese burned more than fifty houses belonging to
tha Tai. In public in Tachilek, they tortured innocent Tai people.
They cut of their ears and tongues.

Recently Slorc mined the Mae nam sai river bank, without
giving any warning to the public. The mines killed two Tai
villagers.

What kind of monsters are running the Burmese army?
For years Thailand has been a good neighbour of Burma.
Regardless of UN resolutions condemning Slorc for gross human
rights violations, Thailand has practised a constructive
engagement policy in the hope that economic progress in Burma will
make Slorc more humane.

We closed the border at mae Hong son, thereby causing economic
hardship to the local population. In spite of this favour to
Slorc, thailand was criticised by Lt-gen Khin Nyunt for not
being a good neighbour.

Perhaps we should be more pragmatic. Perhaps we should stop giving
favours to Slorc and trade with all  our neighbours, no matter
what ethnic group they belong to.

If the Slorc wants to know what a chauvinistic Thailand can do,
we can give material aid to our Tai brothers and to the Karen
and Mon. (BP)


--------------------------------------------------------------
BKK POST: POLICE SEIZE STOLEN CARS

24 April 1995

Mae sot district police yesterday seized nine modified pick-up
trucks suspected to have been stolen from nearby districts. They
were seized at the border village of Ban Mae Kon Ken. Police had
approached vehicle owners who were about to cross into Burma to
deliver timber. (BP)

--------------------------------------------------------------
BKK POST: LEADERS TO SEE NON-MEMBERS IN PRE-ASEAN SUMMIT MEET
22 April 1995

The leaders of the Association of southeast Asian National will
officially meet their counterparts from Cambodia, Burma and
Laos as part of the Fifth ASEAN summit set for December 14-15 in
Bangkok.

Senior ASEAN political and economic officials held their first
joint Consultative Meeting have yesterday to prepare for the
forthcoming summit. A second meeting to finalise the agenda had
been set for June in Bangkok.

"We agreed to meeting between the ASEAN leaders and the CML
countries (Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos), which was proposed at a
recent ASEAN senior officials' meeting in Singapore," said Sarooj
Chavanaviraj, deputy permanent secretary for foreign affairs.

Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam are part of the ten-country
southeast Asia, envisioned by the founding fathers of ASEAN.
The Thai delegations submited a number of options for the
meeting between ASEAN - by then a seven-member association with
newcomer Vietnam - and Cambodia. Burma, and Laos.

A Thai Foreign Ministry told the Bangkok Post before the
meeting that one of the options was for ASEAN to meet the
three countries one morning or afternoon, as part of the two- day
summit.

Thailand' as host of the summit, is responsible for drawing up an
agenda for the talks in December and at Yesterday's meeting threw
in a number of ideas for the summit, including for the Vision
Statement for the 21st Century.

ASEAN secretary general Dato Ajit Singh told the Post many of the
proposal are yet to be finalised.

"The JCM mechanism is like a clearing house of the ideas of member
countries from both the political and economic
viewpoints," he said.

The same source said a proposal for the vision statement, as it
is tentatively called now, is to reaffirm the "ASEAN
identity" in a dramatically changing world, politically and
especially economically.

Examples of dramatic changes are the creation of the World Trade
Organisation, borderless globalisation, and the Asia Pacific
Economic Cooperation, which joins "economies" and not countries.

The source said that at the last summit in Singapore in 1992, the
ASEAN Regional Forum was formulated, "this time there may be no
new mechanism, but ASEAN is likely to deliver a
statement that reaffirms its identity in a changing world. The
process of consulations will continue at the foreign
ministers'  level as well as at their annual meeting in 
Brunei in July and also at the ASEAN economic ministers'
meeting to be held a few weeks before the summit.
The source commented that any statements or resolutions at the
summit will reflect the wishes of all the seven ASEAN members,
including Vietnam which will be officially admitted  to the
association this July. (BP)

    
--------------------------------------------------------------
BKK POST: BURMA TO ISSUE NEW BANKNOTES NEXT MONTH


23 April 1995
Burma's Central Bank plans issue new 10- and five-Kyat
currency notes next month, the official media reported
yesterday.
The new notes will be part of the King Lion series that the
government inaugurated on March 27 of last year with
denominations of 500, 100, 50 and 20 Kyats. The series is used
along with the 200, 90, 45, 15, 10, 5 and one-Kyat notes
already in circulation.
The New Light of Myanmar daily said the new, small
denomination Lion notes would supplement the old ones, not replace
them, and would not increase the volume of money in circulation.
The Lion series was one of the economic reforms introduced by the
current military government when it switched to a
market-oriented economy. (BP)


--------------------------------------------------------------
BKK POST: BURMESE 'BEING REFUGEES HARASSED

Gas pipeline adds to woes of Mons
23 April 1995

Mon refugees seeking sanctuary in Thailand from the civil war in
Burma are being harassed by Thai authorities to facilitate
the construction of an oil pipeline between the two countries,
according to US refugee workers in Bangkok and Mon relief
officials.

Pressure on the Mon, one of the many indigenous Burmese
minorities involved a five-decade crusade against the ruling Slorc
(State Law and Order Restoration Council), has increased steadily
since the Thai and Burmese governments reached an agreement on the
passage of the natural gas pipeline through Mon territory,
according to Phra Wongsa Pala, a Buddhist monk and chairman of the
Mon National Relief Committee.
Human Rights Watch/Asia reported in December last year that
Thailand's treatment of Mon refugees falls far short of
international standards. In 1994 Thailand forced more than 6,000
Mon refugees back into Burma who were subsequently
attacked by the Burmese military.

The report suggests mistreatment of refugees is almost
certainly linked to economic and security concern about
development projects in Burma, including the  projects in
Burma, including the proposed natural gas pipeline. Unocal, A
US company, is one of the companies named in the report as being
involved with the natural gas project.

Harassment now includes daily and nightly police raids on Mon
temples along the Burma-Thai border, and persecution of the sick
and disabled, the reports said. In raids authorities
arrest men, women and children, torture victims, war wounded, and
seriously ill refugees, including those with UNHCR (United Nations
High Commission for Refugees) recognition, a special status
accorded by the UN to political refugees, the reports alleged.

There are also threats to repatriate all ethnic Mon Buddhist monks
back to Burma.

Pressure is being placed on the little people, says
Marryknoll Mission Association of the Faithful coordinator
Vicki-Armour Hileman, of Davenport, Iowa. Hileman spent six years
as a missionary in Asia including two years working with Mon
refugees in Thailand.

The Unocal pipeline, which the Burmese are trying to force through
Mon territory, would mean an economic boon for
Thailand. By rounding up the helpless, they hope to force the Mon
into signing a peace accord and agreeing to the pipeline, Hileman
said.

The Mon who occupy the area that is largely virgin jungle, are
strongly opposed to the pipeline which they say will destroy their
habitat, exploit their labour, and directly benefit the Slorc
financially. They have voiced their opposition in
several letters to Unocal.

Repeated raids are spreading panic among refugees, many of whom
have been tortured in Burma and are terrified of arrest. In the
last year, three have been seriously injured trying to avoid the
police.

During an April 19 raid, Maung Kyan, a severely handicapped ethnic
Mon refugee in need of serious ongoing medical
treatment, was arrested by Yan Nawa police and put into
detention with his wife and two small children.
Maung Kyan and his family all have UNHCR status, which in most
countries assured protection until a safe return to their
homeland is possible. Thailand however, is not a signatory of the
UN Protocol.

Maung Kyan, who lost his eyesight and both arms in a land mine
explosion ten years ago, has recently had a cornea transplant and
required daily medication and monitoring. The Mon National Relief
Committee fears that without proper medical care and a clean
environment, he could lose his eye.

The US embassy, the UNHCR, and various refugee groups have
expressed concern over maung Kyan's welfare, but have been
unsuccessful in obtaining freedom for him and his family.
The Mon National Relief Committee has asked the US State
Department and concerned US groups to call for his release and an
end to the harassment of Mon refugees. (BP)

--------------------------------------------------------------
BKK POST: SLORC SENDS MUSLIM BUSINESSES OUT OF THE CITY INTO THE
          WILDERNESS
23 April 1995
Burma's Slorc has long exploited Muslims and ethnic
minorities. Approaching Visit Myanmar Year 1996, the practice
continues and minority groups, including hard-working
businessmen, are being moved into remote areas in preparation
for the influx of tourists. Ralph Bachoe reports.

Since March 2, 1962 when the Burmese army wrested power from a
democratically elected civilian government of the Union of Burma
it had the cherished ambition of eradicating Muslims and ethnic
minorities of Burma and has been carrying out its plans slowly but
systematically.
The Burmese Buddhist masses have never been prejudiced against
Muslims, Christians, Hindus or any of the numerous ethnic
minorities professing different faiths living in Burma. They are
basically kind hearted and tolerant people and have always
lived in harmony with their fellow citizens of different
ethnic and religious backgrounds.
But since the 1962 coup, non-Buddhists, and Muslims in
particular, have been persecuted for their faith in the from of
business and racial discrimination whether they be of the
subcontinent or of Burmese origin. 
This, according to Muslim and other sources in Burma, has been
going on for the past 33 years under military dictatorship. It's
doesn't mean people belonging to other faiths have been spared the
wrath of the xenophobic military rulers who have continued to use 
the religious factor to divide and rule as was once practiced by
their colonial masters, the British. For instance, inside sources
say, apart from Buddhist
monasteries and pagodas, building of churches, mosques,
Chinese temples and places of worship of other religions are
banned in the satellite towns located outside Rangoon.
The country has seen Burmese-Muslim and Burmese-Chinese riots
instigated by the military to divert the attention of the
populace from the true ills of the country caused by an
inefficient military governance.

The latest is the breakup of the Karen National Union where
religion was again exploited to the hilt to the benefit of the
Slorc (the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council). Muslim
sources claim to this day that they are still bearing the brunt
of Slorc's discriminatory practices destroying their from of
livelihood and making life unbearable in the country, all in the
name of national interest and general welfare of the populace.

Recently Slorc issued notices to nearly 2,000 shopkeepers in
Pabedan Township in the heart of Rangoon to wind up their
businesses before the end of this month. They were reportedly
ordered to move their shops to a township called Sawbwa Gyi
Gone which is about 10 miles from rangoon-proper.

Sawbwa Gyi Gone is located near the Mingaladon Airport where
military personnel have been allotted plots of land at a token
price. The newcomers could either purchase those plots of land at
exorbitant prices or relocate to an undeveloped satellite township
called Dagon. The area, also in the outskirts of
Rangoon, lacks electricity and proper transport facilities.
Pabedan Township is the biggest trade centre in Rangoon.
Seventy per cent of the people staying in Pabedan are Muslims and
80 per cent of business is owned by them.

This has always been a thorn in the side of the military
junta, who despite their claim of now promoting private
industry in the country, is still suspicious of non-Burman
businessmen.

The reason given by the Slorc for the relocation of the
predominantly Muslim business community is that the area is an
eyesore to tourists. The country is  busy preparing to spruce up
the appearance of Rangoon in time for the 1996 Visit
Myanmar Year.

The Muslim community claims otherwise. They say tourism is being
used as a smoke screen to persecute Muslim businessmen. Pabedan
Township stretches from China Street (now Shwe Dagon Pagoda
Street) to Sule Pagoda Road. It has always been a
wholesale and retail business centre with shops selling
hardware machineries, tolls and implements, construction
materials such as cement, roofing sheets, pipe and fittings, glass
and aluminum frames.

There are also a good number of small printing presses that churn
out letterheads, visiting cards, brochures and receipt books for
businessmen in the area and the city.
However, not all of the Muslim businessmen have been ordered
out of Pabedan Township. Sources say these are the people who have
managed to bribe the Yangon (Rangoon) City Development Corporation
in the form of a donation to various development projects.

Some, though, have refused to play believing it to be a
temporary respite before the whole community is evicted from their
present location.

The sources cited the case of Oaksu Ward in Tamwe Township,
Rangoon Division, as an example of how a middle-class Muslim
community was given the short end of the stick when the Slorc
confiscated prime business locations and land at the beginning of
last year.

About 80 per cent of the 3,000 families residing there were
Muslims, mostly petty traders, hawkers, skilled workers like
electricians, plumbers, carpenters, masons and white collar
employees of the private sector.

Tamwe Township is about three miles from the city. It has good
transport facilities, and because of the expansion of Rangoon
it has now become the junction between Thuwanna, Okkalapa, Mingala
Taungnyunt and Bahan townships where its residents could commute
easily and quickly to any part of rangoon.
The concentration of Muslims in one area, or any other group of
people for that matter, has always worried the paranoid military
regime for obvious security reasons of their own. And this little
community at Oaksu Ward was no exception.
Their land was nationalised and all its residents ejected to far
off satellite towns where there are no proper facilities like
transport, schools for their children, hospitals or
electricity.

The sources cited the case of what happened after the Slorc
confiscated 13 acres of prime land from a prominent Muslim
family in Rangoon.

They say that not only the land was taken from the family, the
theirs apparent were also arrested. They were later released after
being threatened with imprisonment should they lay claim to the
property.

The confiscated land was later handed to a firm called Asian
Express, of which it is believed Slorc members, or people with
close connections with the military, have a stake interest in.
Four years ago two other Muslim-dominated business centres were
removed. One was Kyettan, a scrap-iron market, in
Pazundaung township in the east of Rangoon. The market was well
known as a source for obtaining scrap iron and parts for most
machinery, including those for marine engines and
electric generators.

Most Muslim traders who own more than 80 per cent of about 1,000
shops at the busy and prosperous trading centre lived in nearby
lower Pazundaung which is walking distance from their shops. Thus
deprived of a place to trade these Muslim
businessmen, which comprised of 75 per cent of the lower
Pazundaung population, were forced to disperse to other areas to
earn a living.

Another well known and busting market called Than Zey, which deals
specifically in automobile and other machinery spare parts, also
suffered the same fate. The market was near the Myenigone Mosque
in Myenigone township, and the majority of the traders were
Muslims.

The Muslims were thrown out of the area and part of the land was
given to children of high-ranking military officers who built
Rangoon's biggest department store the Yuzana.
The remaining plots of land were distributed among building
contractors upon condition they give free of charge a specific
number of rooms after the building was constructed. These were
then passed on to military officers and their families.
Most businessmen in Burma complain that while Slorc propagates
privatisation of trade and industries such oppressive measures
directed in particular at ethnic and religious minorities is
common practice in that country.

They  believe that no matter what the military government says
about opening up the country to free trade, the stigma
economic insurgents will always remain with the business
community.

Our advice to the foreign investors is: Be wary of Slorc's devious
business practices. By any code of ethics is it
justified to wipe out a group of business concerns to replace it
with other, especially those which the military has a
vested interest in?

Like they are now drawing up a constitution to ensure
perpetual rule of the country, it seems the junta is also
determined to keep the major share of the nation's wealth in their
hands. (BP)


--------------------------------------------------------------
NATION: THAILAND SEALS BORDER STRETCH WITH BURMA
23 April 1995
The military has sealed off a 500-km stretch of the border with
Burma to prove Thailand does not support any of the
ethnic groups fighting the Rangoon government, a senior
officer said yesterday.
Maj Gen Pairoj Wannatrong announced the border closure as a
spokesman for the Karen National Union (KNU) said he had
reports that renegade Karen guerrillas had sneaked across the
border and abducted five refugees from a camp in Tha Song Yang
district of Tak province.
Pairoj, a member of the Naresuan Task Force, said that the unit
had closed all legal border crossings in the three
provinces it patrols Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son.
Thai soldiers began closing the checkpoints in keeping with Thai
government policy after members of the Muang Tai Army (MTA) of
drug warlord Khun Sa attacked the Burmese border town of Tachilek
on March 20, Pairoj said.
Some of the fighting between the MTA and Burmese troops
garrisoned at Tachilek spilled over onto the Thai side of the Mae
Sai river, and some of the rebels crossed into Thailand in a bid
to get behind the soldiers. Thai soldiers promptly
disarmed the guerrillas and sent them back to Burma.
Thai merchants along the border have protested the closure of the
crossing points, saying most of their clients are Burmese and
keeping them away is bad for business. (TN)  





BKK POST: BURMA CLASH SENDS 500 FLEEING INTO THAILAND
24 April 1995

A renewed clash between Burmese troops and opium warlord Khun Sa's
personal army has forced some 500 refugees to cross to northern
Thailand, Thai television said yesterday.
The refugees, mostly  ethnic Shans, Akha and Muser hill
tribesmen, abandoned Pang Dao Tai village inn northeastern Burma
and headed south for Thailand after Rangoon's attack against the
Maung Tai Army (MTA) of Friday, Channel 7 said. The refugees took
shelter at Mae Mo village in Mae Fa Luang sub-district of Chiang
Rai province.

The Burmese troops started attacking an MTA outpost on Pa
Chang Mountain and moved north to Pang Kai Nua and Pang kai Tai
villages, Channel 7 said without specifying how many
troops were involved.

The firefight took place six kilometres from the Burmese-Thai
border and was clearly heard on the Thai side, it reported. Thai
rangers attached to the 18th  Ranger detachment from the Paik
Thong Garrison were dispatched to fortify the border area and
block a further influx of refugees. (BP)

--------------------------------------------------------------
BKK POST: BURMESE REBELS DECLARE HOLY WAR AGAINST GOVT
24 April 1995

A Burmese Muslim rebel group will call for a jihad (holy war)
against the military regime in Burma in retaliation against
alleged atrocities committed against Muslim in Burma.
Chairman of the All Burma Muslim Union (ABMU), Abdul Razak, did
not elaborate on how his rebel group intends to launch the jihad,
but said it could be  done in the same manner as many Arab
nationals who had volunteered to fight alongside the
mujahideen fighters inn Afghanistan against the former Soviet
Union.

He said he would report the plight of Burmese Muslims at the hands
of the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) to
international Muslim organizations.

Charging the Slorc with human rights abuses, he said Burmese
troops had seized mosques near the Three-Pagoda Pass and
turned them into military outposts. Muslims have been banned from
gathering to perform religious activities, he added.
Informed Muslim sources said several Arab volunteers and
mujahideen (Muslim fighters) who had previously fought in
Afghanistan were still in Pakistan and anxiously looking for a
jihad (holy war) to help their Muslim brethren. some had
travelled to the Philippines to join Muslim rebels from the Abu
Sayyaf group in Mandanao, the sources added.

The Islamist party in Pakistan, which is eager to join a holy war,
is the Jamaat-e-Islami, sources said.

The leader of another Muslim rebel group, Col Kyaw Hla, said he
disagreed with the call for a jihad against the Slorc'
Chairman of the Muslim Liberation organization of Burma said
his group would concentrate on pushing for the improvement of
human rights. (BP)

--------------------------------------------------------------
BKK POST: INTRUDERS THREATEN TO ATTACK KAREN CAMP
24 April 1995

A bout 400 foreign troops claiming to be members of the
Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) yesterday crossed the border
into Thailand and threatened to attack a karen refugee camp within
five days if the refugees do not return to Burma. Informed
military sources told the Bangkok Post yesterday the heavily-armed
intruders also warned a Thai para-military
ranger unit posted to guard the refugee camp to move further
inland or face attack.
The brazen incursion by a large number of the pro-Rangoon
renegade Karen Buddhist took place yesterday morning in Tha Son
Yang District of Tak Province.

The DKBA troopers who came from captureed Karen National Union
(KNU) based at Nawta, Kawdae and Htee Kler Ki waded across the Moi
River which separates Thailand from Burma and landed at Ban Mae
Por and Ban Mae Lor.

The renegade karens quickly set up road blocks on the Tha Son
Yang-Mae Sariang highway leading to Ban Mae Por, Ban Mae Lor and
Ban Mae Woei.

According to the sources, the intruders took three Karens and six
Thais of Karen-origin hostage and seized a pick-up truck heading
toward the three villages.

The leader of the intruders announced that they wanted KNU
Forestry Minister Pado Aung Sann who has been taking refugee about
1,500 Karen refugees at Ban Mae Woei refugee camp to return to
Burma and to cooperate with the State Law and Order Restoration
Council (Slorc) regime.

The minister and the refugees were given five days to decide,
failing which their camp would be attacked, said the sources,
adding that the renegade Karens also threatened Mij Puvodol
Kamsom, commander of a ranger company, to pull his 30 troopers
away from the refugee camp otherwise they, too, would come under
attack. (BP)








--------------------------------------------------------------
AP: INTERNET USED IN FIGHT FOR FREEDOM
Associated Press
by Grant Peck-AP News    (23 April 1995)

BANGKOK, Thailand - In the jungles of Eastern Burma, opponents of
the country's military junta find themselves outmanned and
outgunned.  But in cyberspace, the realm of the Internet, the
rebels have computer technology on their side. 

"The Burmese regime has gotten away with so much because they
control the information," said "Strider," the pseudonymous
moderator of the BurmaNet electronic mailing list.  "They can't
do that anymore."

Armed with computers, modems and Internet accounts, hundreds of
social and political activists around the globe are waging
propaganda wars on the authoritarian regimes of Asia.  Groups
elsewhere are also active, such as Palestinians opposed to Israel
and Saudis opposed to King Fahd. 

The voices of Asian dissension circulate via electronic mailing
lists, which deliver messages to subscribers quicker and more
often than printed publications.  The information also is
distributed through Usenet electronic forums that most internet
users can check at will.

Recently, activists have started electronically archiving their
information so it can be read using Internet search tools such as
"gopher" and the World Wide Web.

Because closed societies usually lack the latest technological
tools, exiles, expatriates and foreign friends are manning most
of the electronic front lines. 

But more locals are becoming involved - both as pushers of their
causes on the Internet and recipients of hitherto unavailable
information. 

Strider's BurmaNet mailing list, begun last year, tilts at the
military junta that seized power in Rangoon in 1988 and exhibits
little inclination to restore 
democracy.

On a more-or-less daily basis, BurmaNet's 250 direct subscribers
in 15 countries - and several thousand people who recieve its
reports via Usenet news groups - can read Strider's dispatches
culled from Bangkok newspapers, communiques from rebel groups and
on-the-spot reporting.

BurmaNet's reports are also smuggled on diskettes into Burma where
they are printed out and distributed clandestinely.  There are no
connections to the Internet inside Burma.

While Communist die-hard North Korea is still off the screen,
Internet connections in China and Vietnam have expanded recently
in tacit concession to the realities of doing business in the
modern world.

China opened its first Internet link just two years ago, and now
perhaps a dozen sites are connected.  Plans for a domestic
educational network, to connect 100 universities in 10 cities by
1996, will extend the links considerably.  China's  phone company
announced April 12 it will begin processing applications for
Internet connections in May.

Robin Munro, Hong Kong director of the New York-based group Human
Rights Watch-Asia, does not think dissidents inside China make
wide use of the Internet.  But it is conceivable that "some brave
souls log on from time to time," she said.

In Vietnam, a shoestring e-mail operation, Vietnam Academic
Research and Educational Network, has been joined by a second
service, Netnam, "funded by foreign aid money and geared towards
international companies," according to the  Hanoi newspaper
Vietnam Investment Review.

"The Chinese and others want Internet because it is such a
valuable business tool," Strider said.  "But if they open up to
business they cannot keep out news."

INTERNET ACTIVIST GROUPS

Information on computer mailing lists operated by Asian democracy
activists is available at following e-mail addresses:

BurmaNet:
strider@xxxxxxxxxxx

Usenet news groups in Internet:
soc.culture.burma



--------------------------------------------------------------
BURMANEWS-L MAILING LIST IS ON-LINE
April 24, 1995

Dear burmanet-l subscribers,

The news-only version of the BurmaNet mailing list is now
operational.  BURMANEWS-L is essentially the same as the current
BURMANET-L except that it is a moderated, news only list (no
discussion and no one except BurmaNet can post to it).


WHAT YOUR OPTIONS ARE:

BURMANEWS-L    A moderated mailing list carrying news about
[news only]    Burma.  If you think something should be posted to
               BURMANEWS-L, please email it to:
                    strider@xxxxxxxxxxx

BURMANET-L          An open mailing list carrying news and some
[news+discussion]   discussion about Burma.  To post to
                    BURMANET-L, send a message to:      
                         reg.burma@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

HOW TO SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE: 

All requests for subscription and unsubscription should be
addressed to:

     majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxx

The text of the message should contain either the subscription or
unsubscription command, and the name of the appropriate mailing
list.  Majordomo will recognize any of the following four
commands:

     subscribe burmanet-l
     subscribe burmanews-l
     unsubscribe burmanet-l
     unsubscribe burmanews-l

Note:     It would make absolutely no sense to subscribe to both
          lists.



One further reminder--majordomo is a machine and has not an ounce
of imagination or flexibility.  It will not understand "please
unsubscribe," nor can  it deal with typos or spelling errors.  If
you send it a message with  anything but the commands above
spelled exactly as above, it will  bounce your message back with
a note that essentially says: "does  not compute."

If you have difficulties in subscribing or unsubscribing,  please
contact BurmaNet at: 

   burmanet@xxxxxxxxxxx

--------------------------------------------------------------
BURMANET SUBJECT-MATTER RESOURCE LIST

BurmaNet regularly receives enquiries on a number of different
topics related to Burma.  The scope of the subjects involved is
simply too broad for any one person to cover.  BurmaNet is
therefore organizing a number of volunteer coordinators to field
questions on various subjects.  If you If you have questions on
any of the following subjects, please direct email to the
following coordinators, who will either answer your question or
try to put you in contact with someone who can:

Arakan/Rohingya/Burma-   [volunteer needed]
Bangladesh border
Art/archaeology/:        [volunteer needed]
Campus activism:         tlandon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Boycott campaigns:       tlandon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Buddhism:                Buddhist Relief Mission, 
                         c/o NBH03114@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Fonts:                   [volunteer needed]
History:                 [volunteer needed]
Kachin history/culture:  74750.1267@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
Karen history/culture:   [volunteer needed]
Mon history/culture:     [volunteer needed]
Naga history/culture     [volunteer needed]
[Burma-India border]
Pali literature          "Palmleaf", c/o burmanet@xxxxxxxxxxx
Shan history/culture:    [volunteer needed]
Tourism campaigns:       bagp@xxxxxxxxxx "Attn. S. Sutcliffe"   
World Wide Web:          FreeBurma@xxxxxxxxx
Volunteering:            "Volunteer coordinator", c/o 
                         burmanet@xxxxxxxxxxx

--------------------------------------------------------------
Information about Burma is available via the WorldWideWeb at:

BurmaNet News webpage:
         http://taygate.au.ac.th/web/michael/bnn/bnn.htm
BurmaWeb  http://www.uio.no/tormodl
FreeBurma website http://199.172.178.200/freebrma/freebrma.htm.
[including back issues of the BurmaNet News as .txt files]

--------------------------------------------------------------
NEWS SOURCES REGULARLY COVERED/ABBREVIATIONS USED BY BURMANET:
 ABSDF: ALL BURMA STUDENT'S DEMOCRATIC FRONT
 AMNESTY: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
 AP: ASSOCIATED PRESS
 AFP: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
 AW: ASIAWEEK
 Bt.: THAI BAHT; 25 Bt. EQUALS US$1 (APPROX),
 BBC: BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION
 BF: BURMA FORUM
 BKK POST: BANGKOK POST (DAILY NEWSPAPER, BANGKOK)
 BRC-CM: BURMESE RELIEF CENTER-CHIANG MAI
 BRC-J: BURMESE RELIEF CENTER-JAPAN
 CPPSM:C'TEE FOR PUBLICITY OF THE PEOPLE'S STRUGGLE IN MONLAND
 FEER: FAR EAST ECONOMIC REVIEW
 GOA: GOVERNMENT OF AUSTRALIA
 IRRAWADDY: NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY BURMA INFORMATION GROUP
 KHRG: KAREN HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP
 KNU: KAREN NATIONAL UNION
 Kt. BURMESE KYAT; UP TO 150 KYAT-US$1 BLACK MARKET
                   106 KYAT US$1-SEMI-OFFICIAL
                   6 KYAT-US$1 OFFICIAL
 MOA: MIRROR OF ARAKAN
 MNA: MYANMAR NEWS AGENCY (SLORC)
 THE NATION: A DAILY NEWSPAPER IN BANGKOK
 NCGUB: NATIONAL COALITION GOVERNMENT OF THE UNION OF BURMA
 NLM: NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR (DAILY STATE-RUN NEWSPAPER,RANGOON)
 NMSP: NEW MON STATE PARTY
 RTA:REC.TRAVEL.ASIA NEWSGROUP
 RTG: ROYAL THAI GOVERNMENT
 SCB:SOC.CULTURE.BURMA NEWSGROUP
 SCT:SOC.CULTURE.THAI NEWSGROUP
 SEASIA-L: S.E.ASIA BITNET MAILING LIST
 SLORC: STATE LAW AND ORDER RESTORATION COUNCIL
 TAWSJ: THE ASIAN WALL STREET JOURNAL
 UPI: UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
 USG: UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
 XNA: XINHUA NEWS AGENCY
--------------------------------------------------------------
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