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The BurmaNet News, March 12, 1997
- Subject: The BurmaNet News, March 12, 1997
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 11 Mar 1997 19:44:00
------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
----------------------------------------------------------
The BurmaNet News: March 12, 1997
Issue #664
HEADLINES:
==========
BKK POST: MORE REFUGEES SENT BACK ACROSS BORDER
REUTER: THAIS BEGIN TO MOVE KAREN REFUGEES
KYODO: LAWMAKERS EXPRESS CONCERN AT ASEAN
BKK POST: BURMA: A LAND GONE BERSERK
REUTER: BURMA MILITARY GOVERNMENT GRIPS NATION
REUTER:YADANA GAS PLATFORM SEEN IN PLACE MID-YEAR
THE NATION: A BT 100M QUESTION CONFRONTS GAS PROJECT
BKK POST: ITAL-THAI STAKE IN BURMA PLANT
FEER: FLOATING FLASHPOINT
THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR:NEWS BRIEFS
AKO AND OBLF:STATEMENT
KYO-USA: STATEMENT
BURMANET: VIRUS WARNING
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BKK POST: MORE REFUGEES SENT BACK ACROSS BORDER
March 11, 1997
The deportation of Karen refugees from Thailand to Burma has resumed, a
source on the border said yesterday.
A group of 1,800 Karen men, women and children, who had crossed into
Kanchanaburi's Thong Pha Phum district on Sunday, were pushed back into
Burma early yesterday, he said.
The 1,800, who had fled their homes in Tho Kah ahead of a State Law and
Order Restoration Council advance, were civilians.
Also on Sunday, another 1,500 Karen civilians who had taken sanctuary in
the Thung Yai Naresuan wildlife reserve in Kanchanaburi were sent back
across the border into Burma, the source said.
Driven from their homes in Htitabaw by the Slorc and renegade Karen forces,
they crossed the border on Feb 27. (BP)
**************************
REUTER: THAIS BEGIN TO MOVE KAREN REFUGEES TO NEW CAMPS
March 11, 1997
MAE SOT, Thailand, March 11 (Reuter) - Thai officials on Tuesday began
moving thousands of Karen refugees to a safer camp as Thailand attempted to
tighten its grip on refugees living on its soil, officials and refugee
sources said.
The officials used 200 trucks to transport ethnic Karen refugees from
Hauy Bong camp, about 30 km (18 miles) north of the border town of Mae Sot.
The camp was razed by a splinter Karen group earlier this year.
By late morning, about 5,000 refugees had been trucked from Hauy Bong to
Hauy Kalok camp, closer to Mae Sot, officials said.
A security officer who supervised the relocation told Reuters the move
reflected a new policy to reduce the number of camps and move refugees to
safer camps where resident numbers could be more closely monitored.
More than 70,000 Karen refugees have lived in sprawling camps near the
Thai-Burma border since 1984. They have been the target of a series of
attacks by rival Karen groups over the past two years.
Burmese troops have said the refugees were family members and followers
of the Karen National Union (KNU) rebel group and that living in
uncontrolled camps allowed them to reguarly cross back into Burma.
The KNU, formed in 1948, is fighting for autonomy from Rangoon. It is
the last major rebel group that has yet to sign a ceasefire with Burma's
military government.
To appease Rangoon, the Thai army, which previously turned a blind eye
to KNU movements and the refugees on its western border, has changed its
policy and is now applying stricter measures.
"From now the people who want to live in the camp should not be allowed
to return (to Burma), if they go back it means they go to fight because they
are the fighters," Thai army chief General Chetta Thanajaro said last week.
The new camps will also require stricter entry controls, officials said.
Thailand has been accused by the United States and human rights
organisations of forcibly repatriating the Karen back into Burma. Thailand
denies the accusations but says it disarms fighters and requests that they
voluntarily return to Burma.
The refugees at Hauy Bong camp, who have been living under temporary
shelter since their camp was razed by the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army
(DKBA) earlier this year, said they welcomed the move.
"We are happy here because the old place was very dangerous, we were
attacked very often from the DKBA," said Fai Hna, a 30-year old mother of
three children.
The DKBA was formed in 1995 after the Buddhist faction of the
predominantly-Christian KNU split from the group. The DKBA is said to be
supported by the Burmese government and to fight alongside the military
against the KNU.
**********************************
KYODO: LAWMAKERS EXPRESS CONCERN AT ASEAN ADMISSION OF MYANMAR
March 11, 1997
TOKYO, March 11 Kyodo - An international group of lawmakers voiced
concern Tuesday at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) possibly admitting Myanmar as a full member without regard
for improvement in democracy in the country.
The concerns were expressed at the inaugural annual meeting of the
International Network of Political Leaders Promoting Democracy in Burma (PD
Burma), held in Tokyo on Monday and Tuesday.
Kjell Bondevik, chairman of PD Burma, told a news conference that the
10 participants ''agreed to encourage ASEAN to impose some preconditions
before admitting Burma as a member.''
Bondevik, a former Norwegian foreign minister, cited as one such
condition that Myanmar's junta, the State Law and Order Restoration
Council (SLORC), stop its violence against the ethnic Karen people.
He also urged SLORC to release political prisoners, open
universities to students and resume dialogue with pro-democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate who
leads the National League for Democracy (NLD).
Along with Cambodia and Laos, military-ruled Myanmar is widely
expected to be accepted into the seven-member ASEAN at this year's
ministerial meeting in Kuala Lumpur in July.
Lim Kit Siang, a member of the Malaysian parliament, said,
''Voices must be raised to express concerns about this possibility of
having SLORC in ASEAN.''
After the meeting, a Japanese parliamentary league issued a statement
under the name of its deputy chairman Yukio Hatoyama, co-leader of the
Democratic Party of Japan, calling on the Japanese government to engage in
active diplomacy to promote dialogue between SLORC and the NLD.
ASEAN comprises Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
******************************
BKK POST: BURMA: A LAND GONE BERSERK
March 9, 1997
Ralph Bachoe
The fate of refugees fleeing their homelands in Burma lies in the hands of
their Thai protectors. However, despite the humanitarian gesture of the Thai
authorities the hardships persist
Life is not of one's own choosing it is dictated by destiny.
One case in point is the way one baby girl was brought into this world.
The baby girl was born on Monday, February 3, 1997 in a refugee camp in
Thailand, miles away from her home.
The same day, Thai authorities tried to move the entire group to a new site.
Today she is six days old. She has neither worries nor cares. She doesn't
know where she was born and she doesn't know where she is.
She knows nothing but to suckle her mother's breasts to stay alive.
She doesn't know that her parents and her people have fled to a foreign
land to survive, just like herself.
She is a child of a country called Burma, the "Golden Land," the "Land of a
Thousand Pagodas," and many other wondrous names.
But today, it is simply a land gone berserk.
Her mother, a timid 20-year-old girl, doesn't speak Burmese. This is her
second daughter. Her firstborn is two years old.
With sad eyes she said: "My husband has been left behind with the Karen
National Union 4th Brigade, in Karen State."
The area is now under siege by a military government which calls itself the
State Law and Order Restoration Council.
The family's fate? Who knows, who cares? Such is the life of a refugee.
But non-government organisations care. The Thai people, in general, care.
The local Thai villagers care.
But not Slorc. Not the avaricious businessmen and opportunists in Thailand
and neighbouring countries.
Not the multi-billion business conglomerates such as Unocal of the USA and
Total of France, now working on the Yadana gas pipeline in Burma to feed an
energy-hungry Thailand - and shove dollars into their pockets as well.
Yet in gratitude, and in desperation, no doubt, the suffering refugees from
Phu Nam Rawn camp in Kanchanuburi Province - from a new born baby to a
73-year-old year patriach - managed to deliver this message of appreciation
to a Thai MP who was present on the day of their relocation. That was on
Tuesday, February 4, 1997.
"Your Excellency, we are very pleased to receive your visit to Phu Nam Rawn
refugee camp. We respect and recognise all of the Thai peoples sympathy to
Karen refugees.
"We will never forget the Royal Thai Government's gratitude which has
granted shelter to refugees along the Thai-Burma border for a long time.
"Due to the Slorc's heavy military offensive many villagers in Burma lost
their homes, their land, their heritage and their lives. We see Thailand as
a democratic and active protector of human rights."
The 2,316 desperate souls include 1,001 boys and 595 girls, aged below 10,
as well as landmine victims hobbling around on wooden stumps.
The group of 510 families - including 218 males and 502 females over 10
years-old - all fled Burma on February 22 to escape the fierce fighting and
the human rights abuses committed by troops of the ruling military junta.
They were then trucked to to Phu Muang, the new camp site, under the
watchful eyes of 9th Army Infantry Division troops.
Thai authorities and the Army have confirmed they will be sent back to
Burma as soon as the situation returns to normal.
The new camp has a small reservoir inhabited by paddy birds. It is about 20
kilometers south of Phu Nam Rawn and the journey takes about forty minutes
by road.
It is located in a valley five kilometers away from the Thai-Burmese border
where Slorc troops are stationed on the mountains, a good observation point
for the Burmese Army but out of mortar range. The Thai Army made sure of this.
The refugees' former camp was about two to three kilometres from the border
- well within the Slorc's firing range.
Choo Dill Charles, 58, the articulate camp leader said: "The division
commander and the district chief told us that it is a good place, and it is
a place which is good for security and this is the place that he likes, the
best.
"And so upon their promise we decided to go."
Asked whether the relocation was of a forced nature, his tongue in-cheek
reply was: "I don't know about that.
"We are not forced. We do not say that we are forced.
"And we do not say that this is our own choice. It is not.
"But we do not have our own choice because we came to Thai soil and we are
requesting refuge and they try to give us refuge."
Before the refugees could be moved the following day, there was a standoff
between the refugees and the Thai Rangers which lasted for more than an hour
at the Phu Nam Rawn checkpoint.
The Karen community leaders refused to budge from their former site at Phu
Nam Rawn despite orders from the checkpoint commander.
A tolerant and understanding Ranger captain brought the Karen leaders to
the checkpoint for lengthy negotiations.
There they met District Chief Pitak Saket who assured them that the new
site is safe and that they would be well-protected by the Rangers and local
militia.
Earlier in the day, fifteen community leaders and a military captain talked
and argued at the camp.
It was noon and raining heavily. and the negotiators were heavily drenched
by then.
One Karen leader said: "We are concerned about our children, and only this
morning a woman gave birth.
"How can we move in a situation like this?"
The leader said that they would not move until they received the assurances
of the Nai Amphur (district chief).
The Karen leader then revealed that he had just received news that the Nai
Amphur was against the move.
He said the captain at the checkpoint was also confused, who had told him:
"My superior told me to move, and then another message said not to move".
However, despite the confusion, it seemed the hardships of the refugees -
after being moved to a safe area away from the range of Slorc mortar shells
- is over.
But it is not.
Perhaps worse than Slorc, the spectre of death looms as cholera, an
infectious disease that causes severe diarrhoea, hovers over the camp. Four
are down with it and one case is considered to be serious. (BP)
*****************************************************
REUTER: BURMA MILITARY GOVERNMENT GRIPS NATION TIGHTLY
March 11, 1997
By Deborah Charles
MANDALAY, Burma, March 11 (Reuter) - The soldiers chant loudly as they
conduct pre-dawn marches and drills around Mandalay Fort in the centre of
the city.
They are a visible reminder that despite the commercial bustle of
Burma's second city, the military is still in complete control -- in
Mandalay, in the capital Rangoon and throughout Burma.
"The situation here is very bad," said a well-known Burmese writer who
asked not to be identified. "This is worse than a fascist regime."
"They shut our mouths, they shut our eyes and make people hear
everything they want them to hear," the writer said. "They are watching
everything we do. They know you have come to see me and may ask me why, and
what I said to you."
GOVERNMENT TIGHTENS GRIP WHILE APPEARING TO OPEN UP
Many complain that the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council
(SLORC) is tightening control over citizens and, at the same time, making it
appear as if it is opening up to the rest of the world.
This is "Visit Myanmar Year", with the government seeking to open its
once-isolated nation up to foreign visitors and their hard currency.
Yet since the tourism year began in November, the government has
continued to move against the opposition movement led by Nobel Peace
laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party.
"There is severe repression of the NLD and the forces working for
democracy," Suu Kyi told a news conference last week. "The situation is
getting worse all the time. This is persecution of the NLD," she said, after
outlining arrests and intimidation tactics used by the SLORC against NLD
members.
The SLORC regularly accuses Suu Kyi and members of her NLD party of
trying to incite unrest and destabilise the country, and says the actions it
has taken are meant to maintain control.
The SLORC also closed all the major universities across the country in
December after suppressing a series of rare student street demonstrations.
It is not known when they will reopen.
TERRORIST ATTACKS WORRY GOVERNMENT
The military presence in Rangoon has been stepped up recently as the
government fears possible terrorist attacks by ethnic guerrilla groups it
accused of setting off two bombs at a Buddhist shrine on Christmas Day.
In the capital, cars navigate around barricades set up in the middle of
the streets.
Drivers cast sideways glances at tanks parked in the streets and at
soldiers armed with machine-guns who stand guard every few metres on the
capital's main roads.
"They (the ethnic rebels) can plant bombs at any time," a senior
military official said when asked about the heightened security. "We have to
be aware of the threat to our security."
Diplomats said the government is worried about threats posed by rebel
groups such as the Karen National Union (KNU) -- the only major ethnic group
yet to sign a ceasefire agreement with the SLORC and still fighting for
autonomy.
An adviser to KNU hardline leader Bo Mya told Reuters last week that the
guerrillas planned to step up attacks in key cities such as Rangoon and
Mandalay after the SLORC vowed to keep troops at the Thai-Burmese border
after recent fighting.
"For the SLORC now, the most important thing is to keep security because
they need foreign investment. I think the SLORC will try to keep security by
using any means they have to," one Asian diplomat said.
Burma is not only opening up to tourism, it is also trying to encourage
foreign investment.
Despite pleas from Suu Kyi to foreigners not to bring money to Burma
until the regime improves its human rights record and begins talks with the
opposition, foreign investment is rising.
Some $6.03 billion worth of foreign projects have been approved by the
government since it opened up the economy after seizing power in 1988.
But economists estimate only about half of that has actually been
invested as some investors, uneasy over threats of U.S. economic sanctions
and other international pressure on the SLORC, await more political and
economic stability before starting operations.
FUTURE STILL UNCERTAIN
Right now the situation is still uncertain, analysts say, with several
different elements bubbling at the same time.
"It's like many different piles of gunpowder spread out," the writer
said. "If one explodes it could ignite the rest."
Others agree, noting there are some signs of unrest, that students,
peasants and even Buddhist monks -- a key element to the national
pro-democracy uprisings in 1988 -- may decide to get involved in protests
against the military.
"It could just take one thing," a diplomat said. "If the SLORC can keep
all the different elements happy there is no problem, but if it explodes you
don't know what could happen."
"We're definitely not going to see dialogue (between Suu Kyi and the
SLORC) any time soon," an Asian diplomat said. "I don't think anything else
is going to happen right away but we are all waiting to see."
**********************************
REUTER:BURMA YADANA GAS PLATFORM SEEN IN PLACE MID-YEAR
March 10, 1997
SINGAPORE, March 10 (Reuter) - At least one production platform for the
US$1.2 billion Yadana gas field offshore Burma will be in place later this
year, a senior Unocal official said on Monday.
William Ichord, vice president, Washington office, told Reuters in an
interview in Singapore the project was moving forward and first gas
production remained on course for 1998.
The project aims to provide 525 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of
natural gas to Thailand via a 699-km (416-mile) pipeline under a 30-year
period to power a 2,800 megawatt power station.
A further 125 mmcfd will be provided to the Burma market via a 260 km (162
mile) pipeline for a 700-megawatt power station and fertilizer plant near
Rangoon.
Unocal Corp has a 28.26 percent stake in the Yadana field, Total SA TOTF.SA
31.24 percent, Petroleum Authority of Thailand Exploration and Production Co
PTTE.BK 25.5 percent and Burma national oil company Myanma Oil and Gas
Enterprise (MOGE) 15 percent.
Ichord said the section of pipeline crossing Burma to the Thai border had
been put in place and was being welded and trenched.
Unocal has just completed feasibility studies on the pipeline, power and
fertilizer plant for Rangoon.
***********************
THE NATION: A BT 100M QUESTION CONFRONTS GAS PROJECT
March 10, 1997
Kamol Sukin
The PTT's environmental report for the Yadana gas pipeline is clearly
inadequate, writes Kamol Sukin. But with massive financial penalties facing
the agency, will environmental authorities allow it to pass?
Compared to other factors such as politics and engineering, the environment
has never been a priority for the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT). A
case in point is the controversial Yadana project, an ambitious scheme to
pipe natural gas from Burma's Gulf of Martaban to Thailand.
Despite the PTT's initial optimism that the gas would begin flowing by the
middle of next year, construction of the pipeline on the Thai side has been
unexpectedly delayed for many months by the energy company's failure to
produce an acceptable environmental impact assessment (EIA), which is needed
before construction can begin. Work by France-based Total is going ahead on
the Burma side.
Songkiert Tansamrit, director of the PTT's Public Relations Office,
admitted last week that this month is the final deadline for construction to
begin. If the project does not get underway by the end of March, the
pipeline may not be completed on schedule, as stipulated in the contract
among the four-partner consortium, forcing Thailand to pay a hefty financial
penalty, as much as Bt100 million per day.
Producing an EIA report does not seem to be difficult at first: Just get
approval from the Office of Environmental Policy and Planning (OEPP) so the
project can go ahead. But the PTT now realises it is not so easy,
particularly if the report is to meet acceptable standards. Carrying out the
research to meet these standards requires a lot of time, the one thing the
PTT cannot afford.
In fact, a closer look at the issues reveals that it will be very difficult
to gain approval for the project, unless the OEPP's expert committee is
willing to accept a weak EIA, which would bring it a great deal of criticism.
According to the 1992 Environment Act, the pipeline project requires an EIA
before it is approved. So, in June, 1995, the PTT hired Team Consulting
Engineers Co Ltd to conduct a four-month study, which it handed over to the
PTT in Jan, 1996.
The Cabinet approved the project's construction on May 7, 1996, on the
condition that the EIA was approved. On May 21, the PTT submitted the EIA
report to the OEPP's expert committee on infrastructure projects. But the
report was rejected on May 26 due to a lack of information and a failure to
fullfil the requirement to hold a technical hearing.
The major problem centres around the impact of the project on a dry
evergreen forest area soon to be declared part of Thong Pha Phum National
Park. According to the PTT, the pipeline will run through 26 km of
conservation forest and another 18 km of first-grade watershed area.
A lack of sufficient data about the species inhabiting this area is the key
factor holding up approval of the EIA. For example, how can one judge the
impact of pipeline construction on rare, poorly-understood species such as
Kitti's hog-nosed bat and the Royal crab without basic data about their
habitat, distribution, feeding and mating patterns, and relationship to
other species in the ecosystem?
While there were hundreds of species mentioned in the EIA, the report was
very unclear as to the project's impact on the animals. The information
sources used by Team were mostly secondary sources and out-dated. Data came
from document reviews and interviews with local people, rather than real
study on the ground.
After the initial EIA was rejected, studies on Kitti's bat and the Royal
crab were carried out by the Royal Forestry Department and Wildlife Fund
Thailand. The PTT held a technical hearing last month at Kanchanaburi to
complete the expert committee's requirements, then resubmitted the EIA on
Feb 26. The report, however, was again rejected, with insufficient wildlife
data again cited as the main reason.
Last Wednesday, the PTT once again submitted a revamped EIA, after taking
only one week to correct some wording. It has become more obvious than ever
that the pipeline's EIA will not contain the necessary impact studies on
flora and fauna species.
The lack of information has made it difficult for the study to reach a
conclusion. It simply states that the forest area in question has ''high
bio-diversity", ''ecological significance" and that the pipeline is located
near four important conservation areas: Thungyai-Naresuan Wildlife
Sanctuary, Khao Laem National Park, Saiyok National Park and forests on the
Burmese side.
While in one section, the report states that about 90 per cent of their 407
species are ''intermediate", meaning they have no clear status due to a lack
of information, it also concludes that 209 of the species (around 50 per
cent) will be able to adapt themselves to the project. How can such a report
count as an ''academic study"?
Finally, the PTT promises to conduct further studies during and after
construction. This raises the question of whether the new EIA is simply a
facade put up by the OEPP and PTT to convince the public that environmental
considerations have been given careful thought before the project is
approved. Suspicions will be heightened if the OEPP approves the report this
week, as scheduled.
If the report is approved based on the current situation, that means EIAs
for mega-projects don't require studies: simply planning and promising to
study is enough. The main principle of the EIA that studies are needed to
mitigate environmental affects and to cancel projects if those affects are
too great will have been subverted by the environment agency itself.
The WFT's Suraphol Duangkhae has suggested that the PTT should consider the
technical hearing as only the first step to providing information on the
project to the public. The public should now participate in drawing up a
framework for the EIA study, after which experts can be hired to carry out
studies in each area for a transparent conclusion, he said.
''Then it will be time to compare the impacts as stated in the EIA with the
project's benefits," added Suraphol. ''That is the correct process as stated
in the law." (TN)
*****************************************************
BKK POST: ITAL-THAI STAKE IN BURMA PLANT
March 10, 1997
Italian-Thai development Plc and its partners in Asean will build a cement
plant in Burma for 10 billion baht, according to chief executive Premchai
Karnasuta.
Ital-Thai International Co, a subsidiary of Italian-Thai Development, has
taken 35% equity in Myanmar Asean Cement Co.
Two other Thai companies also have stakes, one 20% and the other 10%.
Singaporean interests have 20%, Malaysian 10% and Filipino 5%, he said,
declining to name them.
The plant would produce 7,500 tons per day of cement compared with daily
demand currently averaging 5,500 tons per day, he said. Burma was now
producing only 1,500 tons per day. (BP)
*****************************************************
FEER: FLOATING FLASHPOINT
March 13, 1997
By Gordon Fairclough in Ranong, Thailand
Fishing fleets aggravate regional tensions
Sighting a Burmese navy patrol boat on the horizon, the Thai fishing
captain ordered his men to cut loose the trawler's net and pick up their
weapons. Fishing in the Gulf of Martaban is illegal but lucrative, and he
wasn't going to give up without a fight.
Aye Soe, a Burmese crewman on the Thai boat, says the Thais fired salvoes
from AK-47 assault rifles and launched a rocket-propelled grenade, but
failed to deter the fast-closing navy vessel. In the end, the captain lashed
the ship's wheel in place, pushed the throttle full out and ordered the crew
overboard. The navy vessel pursued the unmanned fishing boat, and Aye Soe
and his fellow crewmen spent almost and hour treading water before they were
rescued by other fishermen. "It's like a war out there," says the
dark-skinned 25-year-old, safe now and lounging on the docks in the southern
port city of Ranong.
Thailand's trespassing fishing fleet and the fishermen and navies of
neighbouring countries are turning the seas of Southeast Asia into a
battleground. Some experts fear that the fight for fish could pose a threat
to regional security if navies are drawn into the fray to protect their
nationals.
"The navies try to stay away. But some day, an accident might happen,"
warns Plodprasop Surawadi, director-general of the Thai fisheries
department. "We are close to that every day."
To feed the country's huge fish-processing industry and preserve its place
as the world's No. 1 seafood exporter, Thailand's fishermen are plundering
the waters off Burma, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia. But as
these countries have become more intent, and better able, to defend their
marine resources, they have begun to fight back.
There's already been one skirmish. In 1995, Thai warships got into a
firefight with Vietnamese coastal patrol boats that were trying to arrest
six Thai trawlers in the Gulf of Thailand. Two Vietnamese sailors and one
Thai fisherman were killed. Each country claimed the clash took place in its
territorial waters.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Thai fishermen languish in jails from India and
Bangladesh to Vietnam and Indonesia.
Many others have paid for the intrusions with their lives. In October last
year, two Thai fishermen were killed when their boat was fired on by a
Vietnamese vessel.
Five others died in a Burmese navy attack on two Thai trawlers in August.
And the Malaysian navy killed two, including a 14-year-old boy, during a
1995 pursuit.
Despite the danger, Thai fishermen continue to set their nets illegally in
foreign waters. The reason: Money. Big fishing-boat owners can make such
huge returns - a large boat can catch $3,000 worth of fish a day - that they
don't hesitate to send their captains, crews and capital investments into
harm's way.
Nowhere are the potential profits greater than in Ranong, on the Andaman
Sea. Hundreds of Thai fishing boats that ply the waters of neighbouring
Burma come here to unload.
Tons of mackerel and other fish, jammed into plastic drums, are pulled from
their hold daily by Burmese-immigrant crewmen, slick with sweat and fish guts.
The catch is weighed and loaded onto a seemingly endless procession of
refrigerator trucks headed for local canneries and the giant processing
plants up north in Samut Sakhon.
The Sino-Thai businessmen who own the boats and control the trade keep a
sharp eye on the transfers. Many are clad in T-shirts and shorts, their
wealth only evident from the gold Rolex watches on their wrists and their
parked Mercedes Benzes. One owner of a small fleet says sending it out to
run the gauntlet of Burmese navy patrols is worth the risk. "I've lost three
boats, but I'm still way ahead," says the man, who spoke on condition of
anonymity.
Thai fishermen, he says, have made a science of raiding their neighbours'
waters. The big trawlers can fish nonstop for weeks, supported by a fleet of
shuttle boats, which ferry ice and food out and bring the catch back to
port. The fishing boats also evade taxes by buying their diesel fuel on the
high seas from tankers dispatched from Singapore.
Fishermen rely on a radio intelligence centre, which broadcasts reports on
the whereabouts of Burmese navy ships. If they happen to be intercepted,
they fight.
"The big boats have rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns," says
the man. Many are better armed than their naval opponents. Often, they win.
"It's so easy," he says, pointing to his diamond encrusted Rolex and pinky
ring as evidence.
The Burmese government says it simply can't enforce its prohibition on
fishing by Thai vessels. A diplomat at the Burmese embassy in Bangkok says
military air patrols see hundreds of boats fishing in the Gulf of Mataban
every day. "But we can't do anything about it. We can't sink all those
boats," he says.
But the Thais probably won't stop until they're forced to. A shortage of
fish in the Gulf of Thailand means that many Thai fishermen have to venture
into neighbouring seas to fill their nets.
They have been doing it for years. But changes in the law and neighbours'
attitudes are making it more dangerous. Southeast Asian countries have
claimed their often-overlapping exclusive economic zones. And with
better-equipped navies, they increasingly have the means to enforce their
claims, as well as to protect their fisheries from encroachment.
To head off serious conflict, Plodprasop of the Thai fisheries department
says Bangkok has to pay more attention to marine conservation.
"The best way out is for Thailand to rehabilitate its own seas, to make
them as productive as in the past," he says. "It will cost a lot, but we
have to do it."
His department already closes part of the Gulf of Thailand to most fishing
for three months each years, in an effort to boost mackerel populations. He
is also pushing the government to put limits on the number of fishing boats.
Chumporn Pachusanond, a specialist on the Law of the Sea at Bangkok's
Chulalongkorn University, also suggests forming a regional
fisheries-management body.
Many of Thailand's neighbours don't have large enough fishing fleets to
harvest the maximum sustainable yield in their own waters. What's left could
be divided up among other countries, Chumporn argues.
The two men also say that joint-venture agreements with foreign companies
or counter-trade agreements could be ways to legally open other countries'
waters to Thai fishermen.
But similar agreements in the past have collapsed because Thai fishermen
cheated, taking more catch then they were due. "Thai people didn't respect
the terms of the contracts, and our neighbours didn't like it," says Chumporn.
But until Thailand's fishermen play by the rules, the risk of maritime
conflict in Southeast Asia will continue to grow. (FEER)
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THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR:NEWS BRIEFS
March 9, 1997
SECRETARY-L RECEIVES PRESIDENT OF TASAKI SHINJU CO LTD
YANGON, 8 March Secretary-1 of the State Law and Order Restoration
Council Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt received President of Tasaki Shinju Co Ltd Mr
Shinju Tasaki and party of Japan at Dagon Yeiktha of the Ministry of Defence
at 4.30 pm today. Minister for Foreign Affairs U Ohn Gyaw and
Director-General of Protocol Department Thura U Aung Htet were also present.
___________________________________
MYANMAR DELEGATION LEAVES FOR ROME
YANGON, 8 March-A Myanmar delegation led by Deputy Minister for
Forestry U Aung Phone left here for Rome, Italy, this afternoon to attend
the 13th Meeting on Forestry. The delegation was seen off at the Yangon
International Airport by Member of the 7 State Law and Order Restoration
Council Minister for Forestry Lt-Gen Chit Swe, FAO Resident Representative
Dr Prem Nath and heads of department under the Ministry of Forestry.
Delegation members are Director-General Dr Kyaw Tint of
Forest Department and Director U Aung San Htay. Myanmar Ambassador to Italy
U Khin Nyein will join the delegation to attend 8 the meeting.
_________________________________
MCB, PUBLIC BANK OF MALAYSIA SIGN MOU TO ESTABLISH JV BANK
YANGON, 8 March-Chairman Tan Sri Dato Thong of Public Bank Bhd of
Malaysia and party called on Minister for Commerce Lt-Gen Tun Kyi at Sedona
Hotel on Kaba Aye Pagoda Road here this evening. They discussed
establishment of a joint-venture bank between Myanmar Citizens Bank and
Public Bank Bhd, bilateral trade and investment. A ceremony to sign a
memorandum of understanding on establishment of the joint-venture bank was
also held at the hotel.
http://www.myanmar.com/nlm/
*********
THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR: NEWS BRIEFS
March 10, 1997
MYANMAR PORT AUTHORITY, SINMARDEV INTERNATIONAL TO BUILD WHARF IN THILAWA
PORT AREA
YANGON, 9 March Secretary-l of the State Law and Order Restoration
Council Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt this evening attended a ceremony to drive in the
first pile for construction of a wharf for general use in Thilawa Port area.
This wharf will be constructed jointly by Myanma Port
Authority and Sinmardev International Pte Ltd.
Accompanied by Minister at the Office of the Chairman of the State Law and
Order Restoration Council Brig-Gen- Myo Thant, Minister at the Office of
the Prime Minister U Than Shwe, Minister at the Office of the Deputy Prime
Minister U Khin Maung Yin, member of the Security and Management Committee
Vice-Admiral Than Nyunt, Minister for Transport Lt-Gen Thein Win, Minister
for Labour Maj-Gen Saw Lwin,Deputy minister Transport U Sann Wai, Deputy
Commander of Yangon Command Brig-Gen Thura Myint Maung, officials of the
Office of the State Law and Order Restoration Council, heads of department,
Ambassador of the Republic of Singapore Brig-Gen Patrick Choy Choong Tow,
President of Sinmardev International Pte Ltd Mr Albert Hong and
officials, local and foreign journalists and guests, the Secretary-l
left Nanthida jetty at 12.50 pm today by Malikha Vessel.
Myanma Port Authority and Sinmardev International Pte Ltd
signed a contract to construct the bridge on 6 July 1996 with the
formation of a joint-venture company 'MPA-SMD Port Ltd'. The
bridge will be completed within two years.
http://www.myanmar.com/nlm/
*****************************
AKO AND OBLF:STATEMENT
(abridged)
March 4, 1997
STATEMENT
The latest indiscriminate and vicious onslaught an KNU positions along
the Thai-Burma border areas resulting in thousands of refugees fleeing
from their home lands, should be viewed by democracy loving nations of
the world as an immensely critical situation developing in Burma, as
SLORC is able to crush and annihilate with impunity, the last bastion of
democracy in Burma. SLORC is not faced by any deterrent, as even all the
resolutions of the United Nations have had no affect on SLORC's
repression and its increasing human rights abuses. 'The vivid examples
of Bosnia are also ignored by them. Must the people of Burma who sought
peace and democracy at the 1990 elections, continue living in poverty and
immense suffering under the yoke of SLORC's repressive regime?. We call on
all peace loving nations to assist the people of Burma fulfil their
aspiration for peace and democracy, by working harder to achieve
tripartite dialogue, under the supervision of the United Nations. Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi has also regularly called for dialogue, It is now time
for positive action and not words.
The Executive Committee
OVERSEAS BURMA LIBERATION FRONT (OBLF).
4 March, 1997.
--------------------------------
AKO
Australia Karen Organisation
DECLARATION BY THE AUSTRALIA KAREN ORGANIZATION
regarding the recent military operations by SLORC in BURMA.
The Karen people want peace, but not peace at any price.
The Karen people want PEACE that will ensure DEMOCRACY, JUSTICE AND EQUALITY
for all of Burma.
The Karens are now facing annihilation, SLCORC has pitted all its might
against the KNU and in the process thousands of civilians (Wemen and
children) are forced to flee their hames to take refuge in neighbouring
Thailand which openly declares its hostility towards them.
This is GENOCIDE and the world must take notice.
WE, the Karens residing in Australia, now call upon the Australian people,
the Australian government and the people government of the world
to intervene and avert the great disaster that is looming.
WE APPEAL TO THE WORLD COMMUNITY TO HELP US WIN THE WAR AGAINST GENOCIDE,
AND THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY.
CENTRAL EXCUTIVE COMMITTEE
AKO
***********************
KYO-USA: STATEMENT
Date: 04 Mar 1997 22:34:41
Resent massive assaults by the Burmese Army against refugee camps north of
Mae Sot and large scale assaults by Burmese Army units against the Karen in
the south of Mae Sot have driven Karen from their homes and villages across
the border into Thailand only to face counter measures by the Thai Army
forcing the Karens back across the border in to the arms of the Burman Army.
The Thai Army in carrying out this mandate indicates clearly the
non-humanitarian nature of the Thai government in dealing with Karen
refugees. It also points up the belief that the Thai High Command and the
SLORC are in collusion regarding the Karen people. There is also pressure
from the Thai Army for the Karen to sign a declaration saying they are
volunteering to return to Burma on their own free will.
Given the long history of the Anti-Karen attitude of the Burman
military towards the Karens stemming from the days of the Karen Revolt in
1949 and the clearly expressed desire in a document drawn up by the
military and the government under U Nu called "Operation Aung San" "to
eliminate the Karens," to which Aung San had no input as he had been
assassinated along with his Cabinet earlier in 1947, makes this new drives
a further extension of the 4 Cuts program instituted by Gen. Ne Win and now
is being extended by the current junta, SLORC, to raze Karen villages and
eliminate the Karens.
This attitude by the Thai government in allowing its military to
play ball with the Burman Army and SLORC forces the conclusion that they
both want the Karens "Eliminated." Eyewitness accounts from the border
indicate that there is a concerted efforts by the SLORC Troops (Burman Army)
to pillage, murder, rape and line villagers up before firing squads.
No country, not even a so called "friendly nation" towards Burma
such as Thailand should at any time tolerate the Burman Army and SLORC
positions. This has clearly becoming a case of genocide and collusion to
under any circumstances to participate in these types of actions against the
Karen refugees or for that matter any refugees from Burma. It calls for the
most forcible of actions not just by the USA, but by the
international community. The country initiating these inhumane tactics
(Myanmar) must be dealt with by vigorous measures and if Thailand will not
accept this then Thailand will also have to face the music. The violations
being perpetrated are crimes against humanity and the Thais acquiesce
therein by driving the refugees back into Burma and failing to provide
adequate defense for the refugees is as guilty as SLORC.
A porous border is an open invitation to illegal and inhumane
activity.
The Karen Youth Organization calls upon the USA, Thailand and all
nations to act to quell these rapacious programs of the SLORC and the
Burman Army. If physical force must be used then it must be done for not
to defend the principles of Human Rights makes the Rights of all Humanity
worthless.
Karen Youth Organization
March 5, 1997
*************************
BURMANET: VIRUS WARNING
March 11, 1997
If anyone receives e-mail entitled: PENPAL GREETINGS! please
delete it WITHOUT reading it. This is a warning for all Internet users.
There is a dangerous virus propagating across the Internet through an e-mail
message entitled "Penpal Greetings!" It is a self-replicating virus, and
once the message is read, it will AUTOMATICALLY forward itself to anyone
who's e-mail address is present in YOUR mailbox. This will destroy your hard
drive, and holds the potential to destroy the hard drive of anyone whose
mail is in your Inbox, and who's mail is in their Inbox and so on. Pass
this message along to all of your friends, relatives and the other readers
of the newsgroups and mailing lists which you are on so that they are not
hurt by this virus.
Library Automation Services
**************************************