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BurmaNet News: 30 April, 1995





-------------------------- BurmaNet --------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
--------------------------------------------------------------

The BurmaNet News: 30 APRIL 1995, Sunday
Issue #161

NOTED IN PASSING:

          More recently it was decided by those who plot Thai
          strategy that Thai-Burmese relations would be better
          enhanced by engaging Burma economically. And Thai
          military leaders quickly became some of the most ardent
          advocates of the policy in both their professional
          roles as soldiers and in their private lives as
          businessmen. In pursuance of this policy, refugee
          camps, with their links to the ethnic resistance groups
          became an enemy of sorts.  Their continued existence
          was living proof that all was not well in Burma...
               The Nation, <see NATION: TIME TO GET TOUGH WITH
               BURMESE BORDER INCURSIONS>

o------------------------------------------------------------o

BURMANET: KHWAY KA LOKE CAMP THREATENED, REFUGEES FLEE
REUTERS: THAIS THREATEN BURMA OVER REFUGEE ATTACKS
THE NATION: PM ORDERS ARMY TO PURSUE INTRUDERS
NATION: THAILAND THREATENS 'RETALIATORY ACTION'
NATION: TIME TO GET TOUGH WITH BURMESE BORDER INCURSIONS
KYO-USA: REGARDING SLORC INCURSIONS INTO THAILAND
REUTERS: BURMA'S KAREN REBELS SAY THEIR PEACE MOVE FAILS
BURMANET: LETTER--"DR. CYNTHIA'S SAFE?"
CENTRE DAILY TIMES:  PENN STATE STUDENTS WANT PEPSICO OUT OF
                     BURMA
HIID: HARVARD FORUM ON US BURMA POLICY
SCB: FIRE DESTROYS 700 HOMES IN BURMA

o------------------------------------------------------------o
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to the editor should be addressed to: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
 
o------------------------------------------------------------o
BURMANET: KHWAY KA LOKE CAMP THREATENED, REFUGEES FLEE

BurmaNet has a report that at least refugees from Khway Ka Loke
village near Mae Sot are fleeing the camp because of a threat from
SLORC/DKBA forces to burn the camp today.  According to the
report, the refugees are hiding deeper inside Thailand.
 
Another report indicates that two elderly female Karen refugees
were seriously injured in a mine explosion near Morkel [possibly
Mawker?] camp opposite Um Phum.

Khway Ka Loke is home to several thousand refugees and at least
one foreign volunteer English teacher.  The camp is situated three
kilometers from the former Karen military base at Kawmoora, which
was recently overrun after an artillary bombardment using
phosphorus and some kind of (probably legal) chemical weapon.
                     
o------------------------------------------------------------o
REUTERS: THAIS THREATEN BURMA OVER REFUGEE ATTACKS
Keywords: urgent
ACategory: international

      BANGKOK, April 29 (Reuter) - Thailand has warned Burma of
tough retaliation against troops it alleges are attacking Karen
refugee camps in Thailand, but said there was no need for a United
Nations presence along the troubled border.
      In a stern letter to Burma's military government, Thailand
said it would no longer tolerate territorial violations that it
said had been increasing over the past four months.
      ``The royal Thai government will no longer tolerate any such
acts of infringement and will take appropriate retaliatory action
in the strongest form to safeguard Thailand's sovereignty and
territorial integrity,'' said the letter, a copy of which was
obtained by Reuters on Saturday.
      The letter was delivered to the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok
on Friday and another copy was handed directly to Burma's ruling
State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) in Rangoon, the
Thai Foreign Ministry said.
      The warning came after a series of incursions and attacks
on Karen refugee camps strung out along a 170 km (110 mile)
stretch on the Thai side of the frontier. Thailand has blamed
Burmese troops and members of a Karen guerrilla splinter faction
allied to Burmese government forces for the attacks.
      At least one woman refugee was burned to death on Friday as
the raiders attacked and torched hundreds of houses in at least
two separate attacks on camps in northwestern Thailand.
      The raiders have forced hundreds of refugees, including
women and children, back across a border river into Burma, relief
workers said.
      Security officers on the border say the raiders are combined
forces of Burmese soldiers and members of the Karen splinter
faction, which broke away from the Karen National Union (KNU)
guerrilla group late last year.
      Many of the 74,000 Karen refugees in the Thai camps are
supporters of the KNU, driven from their homes by Burmese army
offensives against the autonomy-seeking guerrillas, or family of
KNU officials and fighters.
      Relief workers and KNU sources say the raids are aimed at
cutting the KNU off from its civilian support base by either
forcing the refugees back to government-controlled parts of Burma
or by pushing them off the border and deeper into
Thailand.
      The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
on Friday expressed concern about the situation and said it was
asking Thailand for access to the camps.
      Thailand does not classify the Karen as refugees but as
temporarily displaced people and the UNHCR has only limited access
to the camps.
      The secretary-general of the Thai National Security Council,
Charan Kullavanijaya, told reporters late on Friday that there was
no need for the UNHCR to have a presence in the camps.       ``I
have received repeated requests from the UNHCR for access but for
the moment we don't need the UNHCR to go into the camps. We can
still handle the situation,'' he said.
      The UNHCR also suggested moving the refugees to new camps
further away from the border, something which Thai government and
army leaders also say should be done.
      Security forces in northwestern Thailand on Saturday said
according to early reports there were no major incidents on Friday
night.
      Hundreds of Thai troops, border patrol policemen and defence
volunteers, supported by helicopter gunships and armoured
personnel carriers, have moved in to guard the 23 Karen refugee
camps.

THE NATION: PM ORDERS ARMY TO PURSUE INTRUDERS
29.4.95/THE NATION

MAE SOT - The Army has been given the green light for " hot
pursuit " operations after an estimated 1,000 armed Karen and
Burmese intruders blatantly ignored all warnings and rampaged
through five more Karen border camps in Tak province Yesterday. 
The intruders opened fire on a Thai border patrol , took a border
policemen prisoner , burnt down camp buildings and a Thai sentry
post and seriously injured a number of refugees.

Prime Minister Chun Leekpai described the assault as " a blatant
violation of Thai sovereignty " and said he had ordered the Army
to take " drastic action " .

The new series of attacks , which began in the early morning ,
sent tens of thousands of Karen refugees fleeing into the
surrounding countryside in fear of their lives. 

The raids took place only three days after armed Karen intruders
burned two camps in Tak and Mae Hong Song provinces early on
Tuesday .

Relief workers described the situation yesterday as " extremely
chaotic" and " out of control".

The attacks came only one day after Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai
gave a stern warning to the Burmese government and Burmese and
Karen intruders that Thai forces would retaliate harshly if they
continued to violate the country's sovereignty.

Chuan yesterday met Army Commander -in-Chief Gen Wimol Wongwanich
and said he had ordered him to take strong military action against
any future intruders, including hot pursuit of fleeing forces. 

Local authorities , Karen and aid workers said separate groups of
150-200 gunmen invaded the five camps - Baw Naw [ a section of
Maetamaw camp]. Shoklo, Klerkho, Kamawlaykho and Mae La . All the
camps are in Tha Song Yang district and 160-180 kilometres north
of Mae Sot .

Baw Naw was attacked about 7 am and then Shoklo about 10 am ,
sending 7,000 refugees fleeing in all directions.

Separate groups of armed intruders then hit Klerkho, which housed
3-4,000 refugees, Kamalaykho, and Mae La.

They said the frightened refugees had scattered all over the
rugged border area. Reports said many of the refugees were "
forced at gun point " to cross back into Burma.

At Baw Naw , the camp which was worst hit, about 150 armed men,
supported by heavy mortar shelling , crossed the Moei River and
set about 800 houses ablaze. 

About 20 Thai Border Patrol Police from Task Force 34 in Mae Sot
, supported by a v-150 armoured personnel carrier, were sent to
the scene . They clashed briefly with the intruders but were
outnumbered and retreated .

Pol Lt Col Dharmmavudh Gadsrinuch, chief of 344th Border Patrol
Police unit in Tha Song Yang, said his men were unable to defend
the camp as they were outnumbered in terms of manpower and
military equipment.

He said Sgt Thawat Janond had been taken captive and taken across
the border into Burma . The missing man's where abouts and
condition were unknown at press time.

Dharmmavudh said one Karen woman, Kamoephaw, was killed by mortar
shrapnel, and four others wounded including a young girl.

Task Force 34 responded to the assault on Baw Naw and on the
border patrol by deploying more troops, heavy artillery and
equipment to the area.

The retreating Karen and Burmese forces fired several rocket
propelled grenades and M 79 rockets from inside Burma at a Thai
L-19 reconnaissance plane . The APC was also fired upon and
damaged .

Dharmmavudh said the intruders stole an M-16 rifle , two 11 mm
pistols, two walkie-talkies, a pair of binoculars and other
equipment from a sentry box before setting it on fire .

The sudden raid on Baw Naw not only scared about 70,000 Karen
refugees who have been living for the past several months in
constant fear of violent harassment by the renegade forces of the
Democratic Karen Buddhist Army [DKBA] and the Burmese army, it
also shocked senior Thai military and government authorities in
Bangkok and in Tak .

Chuan said he had instructed Army Commander- in- Chief Wimol to
ensure the refugees' safety and to prevent further incursions into
Thailand.

The premier said he believed the best way to control the
situation was to relocate all the refugees deeper inside Thailand
so that the intruders could not go after them . Wimol yesterday
addressed a monthly meeting of senior officers from to retaliate
with military force in the event of further territorial
violations.

He said that if necessary they were to " pursue the foreign forces
according to the situation".

It is the first time the armed forces have been given the green
light to pursue the DKBA and Burmese troops, who have been
violating the 300 km long stretch of border from Tak to Mae Hong
Song since December.

Wimol ordered 3rd Army Region Commander Lt Gen Surachet
Dechatiwong. who is responsible for the northern provinces, to
reinforce the western border in preparation for military action.
He was also to cooperate with the Interior Ministry in
reassembling all the refugees at one site for their own
protection.

Surachet was told to take " assertive measures " to prevent a
recurrence of yesterday's raids. 

Army spokesman Col Phalangkul Klanarn said a Thai Army delegation
led by Surachet had raised the issue of intrusions by DKBA forces
during the just -ended meeting of the Thai- Burmese Regional
Border Committee.
 
o------------------------------------------------------------o
NATION: THAILAND THREATENS ' RETALIATORY ACTION'
29.4.95/THE NATION

Thailand has officially warned Burma that it will no longer
tolerate any infringement on its territory by the Burmese and will
take appropriate " retaliatory action" in a letter submitted to
Rangoon yesterday.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Suvidhya Simasakul yesterday said
Thailand called the repeated incursions on Thai territory and
subsequent burning of refugee camps in border provinces "
unacceptable"  and " deplorable" crimes.

" Such activities are unacceptable and deplorable as they are
crimes against innocent people seeking safety for their lives from
the armed fighting across the border ," Suvidhya quoted the
document as saying .

The Foreign Ministry sent officials to deliver the letter to the
Burmese Embassy because Burmese Ambassador U Tin Win was unable
to pick up the document himself from the ministry .

Concurrently, Thai Ambassador to Rangoon Poksak Nilubol was
assigned to submit the letter of protest directly to the Rangoon
government, Suvidhya said.

The letter stated that a series of crimes violating Thailand's
security and integrity have been committed by Burmese, and
referred to incidents on April 19,23,24,and 25.

" In view of the increasing violations of Thailand's sovereignty
in various forms over the past four months, the Royal Thai
government will no linger tolerate any such acts of infringement
and will take appropriate retaliatory action in the strongest form
to safeguard Thailand's sovereignty and territorial integrity, "
Suvidhya read from the letter .

The government requested Rangoon to take necessary measures to
prevent similar incidents from recurring in the near future .  
In Geneva, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 
[UNHCR] expressed concern yesterday about reports that armed men
had crossed from Burma into Thailand and abducted " hundreds" of
Karen refugees. The agency said it had yet to receive a government
reply.
 


o------------------------------------------------------------o
NATION: TIME TO GET TOUGH WITH BURMESE BORDER INCURSIONS
29.4.95/THE NATION

With justifiable , if belated anger , the government has demanded
that Rangoon explain repeated violations of Thai territory by a
marauding group of ethnic guerrillas which is sponsored by the
Burmese military .

Branding the border incursions " a violation of Thai
sovereignty", Deputy Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan has called
on Rangoon to give Bangkok an assurance they would not happen
again. 

While it waits for a response from the junta, the government might
do well to ask the Thai military some equally tough questions
about the attacks on refugee camps which are well inside Thai
territory .

Repeated crossings

Since the fall of the Karen National Union bases at Manerplaw and
Kawmoora in December and February , the Burmese and their Karen
allies , the DKBA, have repeatedly crossed into Thailand to attack
and kidnap Karens who have taken refuge from fighting across the
river border . According to reports from aid workers the raids
have picked up in intensity since April 19 to the extent that they
have almost become daily occurrences .

Thailand's generals have expressed their " extreme fury " at these
frequent violations of the border but at the same time they seem
powerless to stop them . 

What is most alarming about the attacks is that they are not just
mere across the river hit-and-run sorties. Tuesday's attack
involved a group of around 200 Burmese and DKBA troops who crossed
into Thailand from the north , and attacked Mae Ra Ma Luang camp
in Mae Sam Lab district . Unlike the other camps which are close
to the river, this is a new camp five and half
kilometres inside Thai territory .

The army has claimed that since the attacks take place at night
there is little they can do to prevent them. Again this not the
country. The target of the Burmese operations are well known the
refugee camps - and the border area , with its long history of
fighting is one of the most heavily manned pieces of land in
Thailand. Most Thai citizens , who pay a large sum in taxes to
ensure the upkeep of the military , couldn't be faulted for
expecting their soldiers to perform a little more effectively. 
Of course , it is not fair to heap all the blame on the military
for the problems along the border . Trying to read Thailand's
foreign policy in regards to Burma has never been easy given the
hundreds of years of suspicion if not outright hostility between
the two countries .Historically, the Karens have been regarded as
a useful buffer between Thailand and Burma . But now we have
Karens fighting Karens, Karens allying with the Burmese and Karens
looking to make peace with the Burmese.

More recently it was decided by those who plot Thai strategy that
Thai-Burmese relations would be better enhanced by engaging Burma
economically . And Thai military leaders quickly became some of
the most ardent advocates of the policy in both their professional
roles as soldiers and in their private lives as businessmen . In
pursuance of this policy, refugee camps, with their links to the
ethnic resistance groups became an enemy of sorts. Their continued
existence was living proof that all was not well in Burma , and
then there was also their role as an impediment to the
steam-rolling of the resistance groups in east Burmese border
areas . Areas which needed to be pacified if mutually beneficial
projects like the Tavoy gas line were to go through.

But getting rid of the refugees has proved to be a better idea in
theory than in practice . The Thai military's efforts earlier this
year to force refugees across the border while a full scale war
was raging drew an enormous amount of bad press and international
condemnation.

For the thick skinned military junta in Rangoon , international
condemnation has never really been much of a factor in policy
making. Neither really has concern for the feelings of its
neighbours remember Hill  491 and the Arakan border flare up. Now
Burmese soldiers and their allies are rampaging through Thai
territory in pursuit of their goal to crush all resistance to
their rule .

The Rangoon junta has never been one for civil or principle
arguments , although it well understands the power of the gun.
When civil or principled arguments although it well understands
the power of the gun. When Cambodia's warring groups have taken
their scraps into Thai territory the Thai army has been quick to
keep them in line with a few strategically placed shells.  
It would appear come similar principled resolve is needed to
reinforce the western frontier and Thai foreign policy as well. 

o------------------------------------------------------------o
KYO-USA: REGARDING SLORC INCURSIONS INTO THAILAND 

The Karen Youth Organization of the United States of America
(KYO-USA)  is deeply  concerned with the increasing human rights
violations which are being carried o ut by the SLORC  army and its
allies.  The KYO-USA views the current situations with alarm and
concern.  The following are some present incursions carried out
by SLORC troopers. 

Gray Hta Refugee Camp, Tha Song Yang District, Tak Province: 

On the evening of April 18th, the SLORC troopers and their allies
enter ed Gray Hta from the  northern ridge of the surrounding
hills, firing into the camp. The camp is  largely deserted now and
the remaining residents are in the process of moving out. 

Mae Lor Hta Refugee Camp, Tha Song Yang District, Tak Province: 
A force of 300-400 SLORC troopers crossed the Moei river on
Sunday, Apr il 23rd, attacking Mae Lor Hta and Mae Woei refugee
camp.  On their way back, fighting e nsued at Mae 
Woei Klo with reports of  one SLORC soldier killed and two
refugees wounded or killed. 

Mae La Ma Luang Refugee Camp, Bob Moei District, Mae Hong Song
Province:      

On the 25th of April at 3:00 PM local time, between 200-250 SLORC
troop ers entered the northernmost section of Mae La Ma Luang (Mae
Ra Ma Klo) refugee camp.  This  camp is  approximately ten
kilometers inside Thailand.  Seven refugees including one female
were seriously injured by these attackers. After burning refugee
camp, the intruders  reportedly abducted 
a number of refugees including women and children to act as 
"human shields" to  protect them on their return march to Burma. 

Kamaw Lay Kho Refugee Camp, Tha Song Yang District, Tak Province:
     
On the night of April 25th, more than 50 SLORC troops entered
Kamaw Lay Kho and burned down approximately 200 houses and one
thousand sacks of rice stocks in t he refugee camp.  
Hundreds of refugees were abducted and taken across the border. 
The remaining  refugees are said  to have fled into the
surrounding countryside.

The United States and the United Nations security council must act
to protect these refugee camps.  The strongest possible protest
must be lodged against Burma.  We also request the 
Thai government to reexamine its border security policies.  If the
incursions and attacks directed against the refugees continue, the
hostility and conflict will spill into Thail and.  This will
result in the lost of more lives including Thai nationals.

April 26, 1995                                    
Karen Youth Organization-United States of America

P.O Box 608
Bakersfield CA  93302-608
USA.  Tel./Fax (805) 397-9242
o------------------------------------------------------------o


o------------------------------------------------------------o
REUTERS: BURMA'S KAREN REBELS SAY THEIR PEACE MOVE FAILS
    By Somchit Rungchamratrasmi
     MAE SOT, Thailand, April 28 (Reuter) - A senior commander of
Burma's Karen National Union (KNU) rebels said peace overtures to
the country's military government had failed and set a May 5
deadline for a resumption of offensive operations.
     The KNU, one of the world's oldest rebel groups, declared a
unilateral suspension of attacks on March 24 and said it was ready
to begin peace talks with the ruling State Law and Order
Restoration Council (SLORC).
     But SLORC responded by making approaches through
intermediaries to individual zone commanders, not to the KNU
leadership, in what the guerrillas said was a clear attempt to
split the organisation.
     "The KNU has set May 5 as the deadline to resume fighting if
the SLORC fails to contact us by then," senior guerrilla
commander Major General Thaw Hla told Reuters in an interview late
on Thursday.
     "The peace overture seems to have failed since the SLORC
chooses to use a divide and rule policy towards us," he said on
the border south of the northwest Thai town of Mae Sot.
     The KNU has been fighting Burma's central government for
greater autonomy since 1949.
     Moves to open peace talks started last year after the
guerrillas dropped several pre-conditions, but the process became
bogged down over a locaton for the negotiations.
     SLORC then launched an offensive against the guerrillas and
captured their headquarters at Manerplaw in southeastern Burma at
the end of January and their last major base at Kawmoora a month
later.
     The military government has reached ceasefire agreements with
14 guerrilla groups, including the powerful Kachin rebel army from
northern Burma and the fragmented remnants of the Burmese
Communist Party.
     The KNU, the strongest guerrilla force still opposing the
SLORC, was rocked by a mutiny last December when several hundred
of Buddhists mutinied against the predominantly Christian
leadership and joined forces with the SLORC army.
     The mutineers formed their own Democratic Karen Buddhist Army
(DKBA), which has since been accused of joining Burmese troops in
attacks on Karen refugee camps in Thailand.
     Burmese troops and DKBA members crossed the border and
torched 300 buildings in one refugee camp on the Thai side on
Tuesday night, the most serious incident in a recent upsurge of
attacks on the 70,000 Karen civilians in camps in Thailand.     
On Friday one Thai border patrol policeman was wounded in a clash
with intruders from Burma, a border police officer said.     
Angry Thai leaders have demanded that Burma explain the
"unacceptable" incursions and ensure they were stopped.
     Burma has denied its soldiers were involved in the
cross-border raids, saying the incursions were the responsibility
of the DKBA.


o------------------------------------------------------------o
BURMANET: LETTER--DR. CYNTHIA'S SAFE?

I've been reading the stuff on the net about the border situation
and  it's sounding a little hairy.  The reason I'm concerned is
that I contacted Dr. Cynthia over a year ago to do some
volunteering at her  clinic in Mae Sot this summer.

As much as I want to do the  medical volunteering, I'm not too
enchanted with the idea with some half-wit with a gun using me for
target practice.  What have you or your correspondents heard about
the situation for health care workers in the area? 

Regards,

 [Name withheld]

Editor's reply: There is no simple answer to your question because
it depends on how you define "safe."  With camps up and down the
border burning, it's an area one would be hard pressed to call
safe.  That said, it isn't as risky as you might think.  That
border is the last place you'd want to be if you were a Karen and
even the Thailand is realizing that it isn't safe to live next to
a Burma governed SLORC.  But as a foreigner, you are protected by
the color of your skin and your passport.  The Burmese army has
shown itself extremely reluctant to harm anyone but their own
people and the occasional Thai.  As for the Thais, they are, Gen.
Charan and a few others excepted, a civilized people with a
relatively benign government.  You'll be at no risk from that
quarter.

Given that you have a skill which is much needed over here, please
don't let the current situation deter your travel plans.  As long
as you don't venture too far from the clinic, which is after all,
in Mae Sot and not some remote camp, you are unlikely to encounter
any great danger.

o------------------------------------------------------------o
HIID: HARVARD FORUM ON US BURMA POLICY
Forum:  "Should the U.S. Have a Diplomatic Roadmap for Burma?"
Monday, May 1, 1995  6:00 P.M.
Institute of Politics/JFK School of Government/Harvard University
79 JFK Street
Cambridge, MA  USA

Co-sponsored by the Indo-China Program, Harvard Institute for
International Development

Speakers:

David Dapice
Professor of Economics, Tufts U.

Mimi Myint-Hpu
Humanitarian Activist

Nay Htun
Asst. Sec. Gen., U.N.; Asst. Administrator and Regional Director,
Regional    Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, UNDP

William Richardson
U.S. Congress (D-NM)

Thomas Vallely
Director, Indo-China Program, Harvard Institute for International
Development 
Graham Allison (Moderator)
Director, Center for Science and International Affairs; Director,
Strengthening 
   Democratic Institutions Project, JFK School of Government 
For information call (617) 495-1380

o------------------------------------------------------------o
CENTRE DAILY TIMES:  PENN STATE STUDENTS WANT PEPSICO OUT OF
                     BURMA
By Scott Andron, Centre Daily Times, State College, Pa.
 Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News  

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.--Apr. 27--A group of Penn State students is
asking the university administration to stand behind human rights
organizations that want Pepsico Inc. to stop doing business in
Myanmar, the southeast Asian country formerly known as Burma.  

Pepsico shareholders are scheduled to discuss the Myanmar issue
at their  annual meeting next week, and the students note that
Penn State is a Pepsico  shareholder as well as a customer.  

The students, calling themselves the Penn State Coalition for a
Democratic Burma, will demonstrate at noon today in front of Old
Main.  

"What we really would like is for Penn State to take a stand
encouraging  Pepsico to divest in Burma, since the university is
such a large consumer of  Pepsi products," said Rolla Chaung, a
graduate student in civil engineering  and one of the protest's
organizers.  

The university has a contract with Pepsico, giving the company
monopolies on campus soft-drink sales and advertising, and owns
a small amount of stock in the company.  

Pepsico shareholders will meet on Wednesday at the company's
headquarters in Purchase, N.Y. On the agenda is a resolution
submitted by some of the  shareholders calling for company
management to consider human-rights  violations when deciding in
which countries to invest.  

Human rights abuses in Myanmar were one of the reasons the
resolution was  created, the authors of the resolution said.  

Myanmar is governed by a military dictatorship, which human rights
groups and press accounts have frequently accused of human-rights
abuses. The military government was voted out of office in free
elections in 1990, but the regime refused to relinquish its power.
Human rights groups say the government killed thousands of people
who protested its refusal to step down.   

The government also jailed the winner of the elections, Aung San
Suu Kyi,  who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.  

Several U.S. companies, including Eddie Bauer and Levi Strauss,
have stopped doing business in the country because of its
human-rights record.   

But Pepsico spokeswoman Elaine Franklin said her company believes
in being firmly nonpolitical.  

Pepsico's board of directors is recommending that shareholders
vote against next week's resolution. 

"We do not agree with the actions of governments of every place
we operate," the board said in a printed statement to
shareholders. "However,   due to the long-term nature of Pepsico's
businesses and the inevitability of  political and social change,
we long ago concluded that it is neither prudent  nor appropriate
for us to establish our own country-by-country foreign policy." 

Penn State's roughly $1 billion in investments include about
$43,000 worth of Pepsico stock, chief university spokesman Roger
Williams said.   

Administrators have looked into the students' concerns about
Myanmar "at some length," talking with faculty experts and U.S.
State Department officials, Williams said. 

"The conclusion we reached at that point was that probably it
would do more harm than good to the people of Myanmar if Pepsico
were to withdraw from  operations in that country," he said.
"That's not to say we're not in any way  resistant to reassessing
the situation and learning more."   

Williams also said it is his understanding that Pepsico is
actually competing with the Mynamarese government for soft-drink
sales.  

Pepsico's Franklin said her company is the first private
soft-drink maker to open up shop in Myanmar.  

Pepsico shares joint ownership of a bottling plant with a
Myanmarese  businessman, she said. Before Pepsico arrived, the
government held a monopoly  on soft-drink sales, she said. 

"In fact we're in competition with the Burmese Government," she
said. "We're taking money out of the government's pocket."  

Penn State's contract with Pepsico will generate $14 million for
the  university over 10 years. Of that, $8 million is "new"
revenue, and of that,  6 million will go toward the Bryce Jordan
Center, a basketball arena under  construction near Beaver
Stadium. The remaining money will be divided among  the university
libraries and other programs.  

This week isn't the first time soft drinks, big business and
international politics have mixed to form controversy at Penn
State. In 1987,  following repeated student protests, Penn State's
Board of Trustees banned  administrators from investing university
money in companies that do business  in South Africa.  

The Coca-Cola Company was mentioned frequently during the
controversy, but the trustees' policy didn't affect Coke because
the company didn't do business directly in South Africa, instead
licensing and distributing its products through companies there. 

Ethical quandaries such as those in Myanmar and South Africa are
becoming  increasingly common, said Philip Cochran, a Penn State
professor of business  administration who teaches business ethics. 


Cochran said if he were a consultant in this kind of situation,
he would  probably advise his client to pull out of the offending
country, for ethical and public relations reasons. But he said he
can see both sides of the issue.  

During the South African controversy, he even spoke to an
executive with one of the largest banks in the United States who
believed that both the carrot of American investment and the stick
of human rights pressure were helpful.  

"He thought they were helping by staying in, but he thought the
protests were also helping," Cochran recalls. "It's an incredibly
difficult issue for  business."   

o------------------------------------------------------------o
SCB: FIRE DESTROYS 700 HOMES IN BURMA
moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
soc.culture.burma
12:37 AM  Apr 29, 1995

Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

FIRE DESTROYS 700 HOMES IN BURMA

Rangoon, Burma-- A huge fire gutted more than
700 houses in the city of Pegu, 50 miles north of
Rangoon, state broadcasting reported Friday.
No casualties were reported. The fire, fanned by
strong winds, spread quickly and destroyed 745
homes. The city, also known as Bago, was the
capital of Burma in the 16th century.

(Excerpts from the Nando Times World Reports, April
28, Friday.)




o------------------------------------------------------------o
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o------------------------------------------------------------o
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--------------------------------------------------------------
NEWS SOURCES REGULARLY COVERED/ABBREVIATIONS USED BY BURMANET:
--------------------------------------------------------------
 ABSDF-DNA: ALL BURMA STUDENT'S DEMOCRATIC FRONT [DR. NAING
AUNG]
 ABSDF-MTZ: ALL BURMA STUDENT'S DEMOCRATIC FRONT [MOE THEE ZUN] 
 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
o------------------------------------------------------------o