The BurmaNet News: June 14, 1999

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------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
 "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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The BurmaNet News: June 14, 1999
Issue #1292

HEADLINES:
==========
THE NATION: MANDELA ASKS KHIN NYUNT TO VISIT SA 
AFP: NE WIN IS STILL BURMA'S GREATEST ENIGMA 
BKK POST: A MATURING CONFLICT 
AFP: BURMA IS GIVEN LOAN 
XINHUA: INDIA JOINS FOREIGN INVESTMENT LINE-UP 
MIZZIMA: THE INDONESIAN ELECTION AND LESSON  
REUTERS: LANDMINES DOT BANGLADESH- MYANMAR BORDERS 
BKK POST: 29 BURMESE HELD FOR BID AT VILLAGE 
BKK POST: PRO-BURMA KAREN ATTACK THAI FORCES 
REUTERS: THAI RICE MILLS SEEK DELAY IN DEPORTATION
****************************************************************
 
THE NATION: MANDELA ASKS KHIN NYUNT TO VISIT SA
12 June, 1999

RANGOON - Burma's intelligence chief has been invited by South African
President Nelson Mandela to attend the inauguration of incoming President
Thabo
Mbeki, the state-run New Light of Myanmar reported yesterday.

Gen Khin Nyunt will be the first member of Burma's military government to
visit
South Africa. He will be attending the ceremony on behalf of Gen Than Shwe,
the
chairman of the military government of Burma.

The invitation provides a bitter irony for the leader of Burma's beleaguered
democratic opposition, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.

Khin Nyunt is considered Suu Kyi's nemesis. She has accused him of directing a
campaign led by military intelligence to destroy her political party, the
National League for Democracy. Hundreds of NLD members have been arrested and
are languishing in the country's jails for opposing military rule.

Mandela, on the other hand, is someone Suu Kyi has idolised. She has said that
while the military placed her under six years of house arrest from 1989-95 for
her democratic activities, she took strength in reading Mandela's
autobiography.

An advocate of political change through non-violence, Suu Kyi also idolises
Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King.

On an Asian trip two years ago, Mandela hinted that he would be interested in
acting as a mediator between Suu Kyi and the ruling junta.

Mandela supported economic sanctions against South Africa to bring down
apartheid, the country's system of racial segregation. But he has refused to
join the United States and the European Union in similar moves against Burma
aimed at ending military rule, saying there is not enough international
support.


The military has ruled Burma since 1962. It crushed a nationwide democracy
uprising in 1988 by gunning down more than 3,000 protesters and ignored more
than 3,000 protesters and ignored the results of a 1990 election that the NLD
won by a landslide.

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AFP: NE WIN IS STILL BURMA'S GREAT ENIGMA
11 June, 1999 

BURMA'S retired dictator Ne Win is said to be turning 90 tomorrow but his
birthday, like his role in the country's contemporary political morass, is a
closely guarded secret.

One diplomat in Rangoon said the former military strongman's 90th birthday is
on June 12, but the date and his age remain unconfirmed. Other sources say he
should be turning 88 this year.

Nevertheless, the rumours have prompted Burma-watchers to re-visit the
question
of just how much Ne Win, who has not been seen in public for two years, still
influences the present regime and whether his death will loosen the military's
vicelike grip on power.

"What happens when he dies will depend very much on the influence he has now,"
Burma's opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi said recently.

"There are those who say he is too old to play a part in politics and those
who
say he's the one doing everything. These are just rumours," she added.

Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party won an
overwhelming victory in Burma's 1990 elections but the junta, the
self-appointed inheritors of Ne Win's political legacy, have refused to
relinquish power.

General Ne Win officially ruled Burma as president from 1962, when he led a
group of 17 generals in a coup against then prime minister U Nu, until he
"abdicated" in 1981.

But he remained  the effective ruler as leader of  the governing Burma
Socialist Program Party (BSPP) - the military's political guise - until his
sudden resignation in July 1988 amid a democracy uprising which left thousands
of demonstrators dead and a new junta in power.

In his resignation speech he reportedly said: "When the army shoots, it shoots
to hit." The tragic events of 1988, the most momentous in Burma since it
gained
independence from Britain 40 years earlier, were largely the product of
mounting frustration at Ne Win's quixotic and often bizarre policies.

His national socialist ideology, steeped in religion and an uncompromising
faith in self-reliance, turned Burma from the rice bowl of Southeast Asia to
one of the world's most isolated and impoverished states.

His edicts, often issued without notice or prior consultation, included
forcing
vehicles to use the right side of the road rather than the left.

Despite his obvious weaknesses as an administrator, Ne Win peers regarded him
with almost spiritual respect as a military strongman and staunch nationalist.

Even in the junta, which replaced his BSPP government, Ne Win is understood to
have made key decisions about which generals were best suited for certain
jobs,
leading some analysts in Rangoon to speculate that his death could split the
junta along factional lines.

"Ne Win is a kind of presence in the background. In a crisis situation they
[the junta] go to him and he acts like a kind of super-referee," one senior
Asian diplomat in Rangoon said.

"If he goes soon, what will that trigger off? I don't know. It may suddenly
mean that a particular faction, which derives its support from him, finds
itself at the bottom of the pile.

"If those kinds of things happen, you may set in motion forces that you can no
longer control."

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BANGKOK POST: A MATURING CONFLICT
13 June, 1999 by U WIN NAING 

PERSPECTIVE

YOUNG PEOPLE ACROSS BURMA ARE FACING THE HARSH REALITY THAT THEIR FIGHT FOR
DEMOCRACY WILL BE A LONG, HARD STRUGGLE.

Over ten years ago in 1988, thousands of Burmese teenagers came out on to the
streets in all big cities and towns in Burma asking for freedom and human
rights. Hundreds were shot dead and many more were jailed. Some of them are
still in prison. Some fled to foreign countries.

The teenagers of 1988 are now 25-29 years old, the best time to enjoy life or
try for one's dreams. But is there any opportunity for these young Burmese to
pursue their dreams? The answer is no.

Political and social conditions during the past ten years have changed these
young people's values. Educational drawbacks caused by a long closure of
colleges and universities have pushed thousands of students into idleness and
made them vulnerable to drugs, alcohol and other misdemeanours. Burmese youth
have come to believe that it is of no benefit to them to pursue further
education and they now pay more attention to the ever-pressing economic
problem.

The search for education and knowledge is replaced by the search for jobs and
hard cash. The effects of this will be felt in the next decades when Burma
needs intellectuals and experts to develop the country. Right now, all the
colleges and universities in Burma remain closed due to the military
government's fear of political unrest. They are unlikely to be reopened in the
near future.

The younger Burmese generation has lost their future as well as the
opportunity
to enjoy life like young people in other countries. The global community
should
pay close attention to this. They should immediately start working to help
restore the right to education in Burma.

Some skeptics are wondering how many Burmese will have to die before the
superpower nations come to help, not unlike what is being done for the
unfortunate people of Kosovo. Certainly this is a naive question, but as the
saying goes, a drowning man would grab a straw for help.

As a politician, I always try to inform the people that we will have to
rely on
ourselves to achieve our goals. If we want our basic rights we will have to
get
them ourselves. If we want to set up a democratic system in our country we
will
have to do it ourselves.

Certainly any help from other countries or individuals would be welcome, but
mainly we will have to fight on our own terms. This message must be sent to
every single Burmese throughout the country. They must be made to realise that
this is the only way to achieve any gains.

What are they afraid of? They have been shot at. They have been jailed. They
have been pressured to abandon their homes and livelihoods. That's what they
are afraid of, and they do not see any saviour coming to help.

We are not dispirited or demoralised as far as our fight for democracy and
equal rights is concerned. We will certainly fight on, but unfortunately it is
going to be a long and hard struggle.


At the same time, Western countries wishing to help the Burmese people must
understand the real situation in Burma.

The western powers' present policy is to force the military government to
immediately surrender to the National League for Democracy (NLD), which won
the
1990 general election. I want the world powers to realise that this is
impossible under the present circumstances.

The NLD has made many wrong moves in trying to wrest power from the military.
It has implemented unpopular policies which created a very tense relationship
with the military. So much so that it is now almost impossible to bring the
two
rival camps to the negotiating table.

The ruling generals believe the NLD and its leaders are bent on crushing the
armed forces and punishing them for their past actions. The generals also
believe the NLD is under the influence of western powers.

After ten years of unchecked power, the military men have entangled themselves
in controversies which have become a threat to the entire nation. Their
infamous relationship with former drug lords, the alleged funding of drug
money
in the state economy and infrastructure works, undemocratic concession rights
offered to the former armed ethnic insurgents in return for a ceasefire and
abuse of power throughout the country are just a few examples. Pro-democracy
activists in Burma, including myself, are very unhappy with these
developments,
but we could not stop them from taking place.

How are we going to stop these destructive developments to our country? Or to
be more candid and precise, the question should be: "How are we going to
eliminate the military dictatorship in Burma?"

My answer is we can not and we shall not. At least not now.

The most open-handed - method would be to put up an armed struggle against the
military government, and I am totally and absolutely against this policy for
obvious reasons.

Firstly, the Burmese armed forces are very strong. They have increased their
manpower from around 100,000 in 1988 to over 300,000 in 1999. The military has
discreetly strengthened itself with more fire-power and proved to be one of
the
most well-trained fighting forces in Southeast Asia with a lot of
fighting-experience.

It has fought a non-stop civil war between 1948 and 1999 against different
ethnic insurgent groups and battled with the Chinese Koumintang forces in
early
1950s. It will be an almost impossible job to recruit a fighting force against
the Burmese army.

The only other alternative to resolve the Burma problem is to handle the issue
peacefully and make rival groups negotiate and compromise. In my opinion, the
military government is going in one extreme direction and the NLD in another.

The military does not respect or trust the politicians. It wants a part in
national administration. However, the NLD will not accept the military's
involvement in politics. It wants the soldiers back in their barracks.

This difference has to be bridged. It will not be easy, but it is the only
option left to save the nation from falling further into the abyss of chaos.

The issue becomes more difficult to resolve when some nations are backing the
NLD's confrontational policies and at the same time pressuring the military to
step aside entirely. This is wrong. We need the armed forces to keep the Union
intact. Burma is a federated. Union of many ethnic minorities, and there are
many ethnic states openly talking about secession or joining neighbouring
countries. We cannot let this happen.

Deep conflicts between the armed forces and the political organisations would
give the secessionists an opportunity to part with the Union.

I have pointed out to my foreign friends that they should give priority to
local factors in assessing Burma's situation. They should meet with more
locals
and listen to their views- and opinions. Policy-makers in the US State
Department and the Foreign Offices of Western countries should try new
approaches now.

In place of a policy which says "they must practise our ways", they should try
"we will help the locals try their ways and see."

Unfortunately, most of the diplomats in Rangoon whom I talked to disagreed
with
me on these points. In spite of that, I must keep on presenting my views
because I believe in them.

I believe that foreign countries should have more contact with the military
government and offer, more options than they are now. I hey should study
carefully the problems the military government is facing and work together for
mutually acceptable solutions. An immediate change to the system in Burma is
not possible under the existing circumstances. The change must be gradual.

However, friendly persuasion alone will not move the generals. We, need some
form of pressure as well. Every individual, organisation and government should
adopt a carrot-and-stick policy if they really want to help us gain our
freedom.

****************************************************************

AFP: BURMA IS GIVEN LOAN
14 June, 1999 

China has given Burma a 50 million yuan (218 million baht) interest free loan,
state-run Burma media reported on Saturday.

The agreement on the loan was signed on Tuesday in Beijing during the five-day
official goodwill visit by Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, a television report
said.

Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt is head of the country's military intelligence unit and the
first secretary of the State Peace and Development Council, the official name
of the ruling military regime.

****************************************************************

XINHUA: INDIA JOINS FOREIGN INVESTMENT LINE-UP IN MYANMAR
6 June, 1999 

YANGON - India joined the line-up of foreign investment in Myanmar as a new
investor beginning February this year with 4.5 million U.S. dollars
invested in
a manufacturing project, according to the latest Economic Indicators issued by
Myanmar's Central Statistical Organization.

With India's involvement, the number of countries and regions investing in
Myanmar has come to 24.

Myanmar received a total of 247 million dollars of foreign investment in 1998,
accounting for only 19.6 and 10.73 percent of the sum in 1997 and 1996
respectively.

Of the total, foreign investment in the manufacturing sector made up the
highest with 181 million dollars in 10 projects in the year, followed by that
in hotels and tourism with 40 million dollars in one project.

Foreign investment in Myanmar in 1998 was the most adversely affected sector
due to the Asian financial crisis, with investments from the Southeast Asia
region falling by 70 percent.

Since Myanmar adopted the open-door market-oriented economic policy in late
1988, it has absorbed 7.1 billion dollars of foreign investment.

****************************************************************

MIZZIMA NEWS GROUP: THE INDONESIAN ELECTION AND LESSON FOR SPDC
12 June, 1999 

Editorial

June 7 election in Indonesia is a turning point for the people of Indonesia
who
had lived 32 years of Mr. Suharto's authoritarian rule. Though the final
result
of the election is not clear yet, the political implications of the election
itself will go further to other regimes in South East Asia. The message may go
particularly to the military regime in Burma, namely State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC) which is trying to copy Suharto style of
"democracy"
for the people of Burma.

Indonesia's June 7 election is the first democratic election for the
Indonesians in 44 years. International independent observers noted the
election
as free and fair one. Violence was surprisingly free during the election.
According to official figures, populist democratic leader Ms Megawati
Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle is leading with 40 per
cent
of the votes in the initial result. Observers say that the next government
could well be formed by Megawati's party with the support of Islamic parties.

It is the fact that the path to democracy in Indonesia, like in other
countries
of the world, is painful and the tasks ahead for a democratic government will
not be easy either. But the people chose for it and fought for it. Democratic
political system is certainly better than authoritarian system anywhere. The
changes in Indonesia will have more or less certain impacts on the democratic
movement in Burma though the things are somehow different in Burma's
situation.

In Burma, the ruling military government organized a free and fair election in
1991 and it was the first democratic election for the people of Burma in 31
years. The democratic opposition party, namely National League for Democracy
(NLD) led by Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi emerged as the winning party. It
got landslide victory with more than 80 per cent of the total parliamentary
seats. However, the military regime refused to honor the result of the
election. Instead, it continues to crack down on the democratic movement in
general and NLD in particular. It continues to seek a dominant role for the
army in future politics of the country. It has been drafting a new
Constitution
for six years now and it seems that the Burmese generals want to legalize
Indonesia old-style of military-dominated "guided democracy" in its new
Constitution.

But, the generals in Burma should have learnt (if they want to) some lessons
from the changes in Indonesia. Mr. Suharto, who ruled Indonesia for 32 years
without democracy but with corruption, had to step down in May 1998 due to
popular resistance. Mr. B.J. Habibie, Mr. Suharto's unelected successor had to
make some constructive changes and gave way for the democratic election. A
referendum to determine the future of East Timor will be held on August 8. The
army in Indonesia had forced back from its established place in politics.
Seats
allocated in the parliament (House of People Representatives) to the armed
forces are reduced from 80 to 38. The students are demanding for the complete
withdrawal of the military from the political scene. They have said that
working democracies do not have generals as ministers and legislators.

If the ruling Golkar party honors this result of the election, Indonesia will
become world's third largest democracy after India and the United States. No
one would have imaged till last year that Indonesia will change to this
direction. And the wave of change always strikes on neighbors too. It is the
time now that the Burmese generals learn lessons from the changes in
Indonesia,
big brother in the ASEAN, and the Burmese army goes back to barrack and hands
over power to the elected democratic government in Burma.

****************************************************************

REUTERS: LANDMINES DOT BANGLADESH-MYANMAR BORDERS
13 June, 1999 by Anis Ahmed

DARGAHBIL, Bangladesh, June 13 (Reuters) - Landmines strewn along Bangladesh's
borders with Myanmar have killed at least 50 people and maimed hundreds over
the last five years, locals say.

The mines, laid either side of the border which runs mostly through deep
forests, have also killed 25 or more elephants.

Villagers said after a few people were blown up retrieving the corpses, they
sometimes left behind their dead relatives in the jungles.

But their agony has failed to catch the attention of those campaigning against
landmines worldwide. No help has arrived for the Bangladeshi victims.

``Death may be quietly waiting to get me just anywhere I put my steps outside
my home,'' said Jainal Abedin of Dargahbil village, near the frontier.

``I am not the victim of a war but a victim of grinding poverty that draws me
close to the mines,'' said the 22-year-old, who was maimed by a landmine
explosion.

Abedin and his friends used to go into the forests to cut wood and bamboo
which
they sold for rice and other provisions.

``I don't have any land to grow crops, a net to fish in the water or money to
start a business. So I found a living in the forests,'' Abedin told Reuters,
displaying his left leg, amputated below the knee as the result of a mine
blast
two years ago.

``I and a couple of my friends trekked to the forest on the hills along the
frontier to collect the body of my brother who died in a mine explosion,'' he
said.

ABEDIN LOSES A LEG

``As we neared the body...we were hit by another blast and my leg was blown
off. My friends also received various degrees of injuries.''

After that, villagers said they did not attempt to bring home their dead. ``We
don't exactly know the zero line (the border) or where the mines have been
laid,'' said Tofael of the same village. ``We thought it's better to keep a
safe distance.''

Lt-Colonel Zahiruddin Mohammad Babar of the Bangladesh Rifles border guards,
said: ``Sometimes it's difficult for the riflemen to recognise the exact
boundary. The demarcation lines have passed through inaccessible forests.''


As Abedin and Tofael spoke, a few other landmine victims gathered around,
pleading for help or at least a promise to send word of their plight to the
world.

Mostly illiterate, they asked who was the right person to approach for help
since Britain's Princess Diana had died.

``We had been hoping that some day she will come to Bangladesh. We heard she
was trying to help the mine victims and their families,'' said villager Abdul
Karim.

Local reporters said at least 50 people had been killed and 150 injured since
1994 by landmines laid by Myanmar troops along the borders with Bangladesh.

Security officials confirmed 34 deaths but said many could have gone
unreported. ``It's difficult terrain and getting all the information may
not be
possible,'' one official said.

MINES LAID TO HUNT INSURGENTS

The landmines were apparently intended to trap or scare away Myanmar Moslem
insurgents believed to be hiding in Bangladeshi territory.

Bangladesh border guards said the Myanmar security forces planted
``hundreds of
mines'' along the borders trying to restrict the movement of the insurgents.

``The minefields have not been marked...this is a nuisance on the part of
Myanmar authorities. This violates the Geneva convention,'' Lt-Colonel Babar
said.

He denied there were Myanmar insurgents in Bangladesh. ``Our land is free from
any foreign insurgents,'' he said.

``We have, at a series of meetings with NASAKA (Myanmar troops), urged them to
remove the mines because they pose a threat to our people, especially those
who
go to the jungles to collect wood and bamboo.''

``They would simply deny they have laid mines. Instead, they say there is a
possibility the insurgents have planted bombs to trap Myanmar soldiers,'' he
added.

``But we have definite proof of the NASAKA having planted the mines,'' Babar
said, without giving details.

Army officials said they had information the mines also killed people inside
Myanmar and the victims were poor villagers scrabbling for a living.

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BANGKOK POST: 29 BURMESE HELD FOR BID AT ILLEGAL ENTRY
13 June, 1999 

RANONG

Marine police yesterday arrested 29 illegal Burmese immigrants as they
tried to
sneak across the border into the province in two long-tailed boats.

The skippers of the two boats were also arrested and will be charged with
attempting to smuggle illegal immigrants. Five boats were involved in the
attempt but three of them managed to escape to Kawthaung in Burma.

****************************************************************

BANGKOK POST: PRO-BURMA KAREN ATTACK THAI FORCES
12 June, 1999 by Supamart Kasem

TAK

Thai forces clashed with pro-Rangoon Karen guerrillas near the Thai-Burmese
border on Thursday while pursuing car smugglers, border officials said
yesterday.

The clash started when some 50 Democratic Karen Buddhist Army soldiers
positioned on Burmese soil and four others in Thai territory fired on Thai
authorities chasing a car smuggling gang attempting to cross the Moei river,
they said.

The gun battle lasted about 20 minutes but no deaths or injuries were
reported,
they said.

The four Karen intruders fled back into Burma, while the smugglers in a Nissan
Cefiro managed to escape.

Col Chaluay Yaempo, chief of the Fourth Infantry Regiment Task Force, said
yesterday that car smuggling was rampant along the border.

Sources at the Mae Sot customs office said that second-hand imported Japanese
cars have become popular in Burma.

Seven of these cars were being kept at the customs office, waiting to be
imported into Burma, they added.

However, they said, Burma has imposed a ban on this type of car and now they
could be transported into Burma only by smuggling, which was being carried out
by DKBA guerrillas.

Lt-Gen Wattanachai Chaimuenwong, commander of the Third Army Region, yesterday
called for cooperation from all concerned in curbing car smuggling.

He said the army was willing to provide support and act as a co-ordinator.

****************************************************************

REUTERS: THAI RICE MILLS SEEK DELAY IN LABOUR DEPORTATION
11 June, 1999 

BANGKOK - Thailand's rice milling industry appealed to the government on
Friday
to extend a deadline for the deportation of foreign workers by another four or
five years, saying they were essential to the industry.

Bamrung Kritpakorn, president of the Thai Rice Mills Association, told Reuters
the industry would suffer a labour shortage if the workers were deported too
soon.

``We will cut numbers by 20 percent every year and believe we will send all of
them back within four to five years,'' he said. ``But at this moment I
think we
are not ready to operate without them.''

He said the association would launch a survey on Saturday to determine the
actual number of foreign workers in the rice mill industry. Workers would be
registered and millers asked not to take on additional foreign labour in order
to ease government concerns.

The government said earlier this month it would deport 90,911 foreign workers,
mainly from the agricultural sector, by August 4 after their temporary work
permits expire.

About 80 percent of the workers are from Myanmar and the rest from Cambodia
and
Laos.

Government figures show about 3,700 work in the rice milling industry although
industry sources estimate the actual total to be up to 10,000.

Foreign workers are mostly paid less than Thais and are prepared to do
unpopular jobs, such as heavy manual labour. Some also have specialist skills
needed by Thai industries.

However, with unemployment rising sharply, the government is under strong
pressure to send the foreign workers home because many of them are filling
jobs
Thais could do.
****************************************************************