The BurmaNet News: October 21, 1999

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The BurmaNet News: October 21, 1999
Issue #1384

HEADLINES:
==========
AP: HUNGER SPREADING IN MYANMAR DUE TO JUNTA: TRIBUNAL
THE NATION: ANGRY PM WARNS BURMESE STUDENTS
BANGKOK POST: SUKHUMBHAND TESTIFIES ON HIS ROLE IN EMBASSY CRISIS
BANGKOK POST: RANGOON DEPLOYS TROOPS TO CRACK DOWN ON SMUGGLERS
BANGKOK POST: TALKS ON FISHING RIGHTS PUT OFF
XINHUA: 21 FOREIGN BANK OFFICES STILL OPERATING IN MYANMAR
XINHUA: MYANMAR- SINGAPORE BILATERAL TRADE FALLS
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AP: HUNGER SPREADING IN MYANMAR DUE TO JUNTA: TRIBUNAL
20 October, 1999

Kyodo, Hong Kong, 20 October 1999. Starvation is spreading in Myanmar as the
nation becomes systematically militarized, a people's tribunal said
Wednesday after investigating the issue for three years.

People in Myanmar, particularly peasants and communities in areas of armed
conflict, are facing serious food shortages caused by the ruling junta's
paddy  procurement and public works projects, the People's Tribunal on Food
Scarcity
and Militarization in Burma added.

The military regime is denying sufficient rice to farmers as it imposes a
nationwide  program of buying a percentage of all paddy fields from
peasants, usually at less than half the market price, for redistribution,
the people's tribunal said.

The army is also destroying crops, displacing civilians, relocating villages
and  extracting cash and materials from people on the pretext of
counterinsurgency  measures, as well as enforcing compulsory, uncompensated
labor for public works
projects, according to the 170-page findings of the people's tribunal.

'Very often the army decides where to grow what,' one of the tribunal
members,  Justice Hosbet Suresh, said at a press conference.

Land is confiscated from people if they fail to obey the army, added Suresh,
a retired judge of the High Court in Mumbai, India.

The three-member tribunal began its investigation in April 1997 after it was
initiated by the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) to
assess the evidence of human rights abuse.

In releasing its findings, the tribunal and AHRC urged all state
governments, the United Nations and international agencies to put pressure
on the military regime in Myanmar to rebuild the economy and guarantee the
basic rights of its people.

As food scarcity was one of the reasons why the international community
became involved in East Timor, so the gross violations of human rights in
Myanmar also call for immediate overseas assistance, AHRC Executive Director
Basil Fernando said.

The problems of hunger, dislocation, forced labor and migration of refugees
in Myanmar have been growing ever since the junta refused to transfer power
in 1988 to the democratically elected opposition party, led by Nobel peace
laureate Aung
San Suu Kyi.

One witness who testified to the tribunal, Saw Htoo K'baw, said his village
was destroyed in 1997 by the army without any warning and sometimes he had
to forgo food so his five children could eat.

'They (the army) just came in, patrolled up and down, shot at random and
killed people sometimes...We hid our rice stocks in the forest, but if the
army saw them then they burned everything,' he said, according to the
tribunal's report.

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THE NATION: ANGRY PM WARNS BURMESE STUDENTS
20 October, 1999

PRIME Minister Chuan Leekpai yesterday warned Burmese exiles that their
sanctuary in Thailand could be in doubt if there was a repeat of Monday's
incident in which dissidents at a Ratchaburi holding centre held five staff
captive.

''They rely on Thailand for refuge, but they organized and created a problem
that could be viewed as threatening our security, even though they were not
armed,'' Chuan said.

''If they organize in such a way that undermines Thailand's interests, the
country may not be able to continue to accept them.''

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' staff members, including one
French national, two Thais and four Burmese, were held captive inside the
Maneeloy holding centre for almost six hours on Monday.

The incident was sparked when UNHCR officials refused to pay some students
their stipends because they were not at the centre when the monthly payment
was handed out.

Chuan's warning is his strongest yet to the Burmese dissidents following the
occupation of the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok by five armed Burmese students
in October.

Thailand's decision to allow the embassy attackers free passage to the
Burmese border after they freed the hostages unharmed has strained ties with
Rangoon and led the latter to close its borders, affecting trade.

''If such problems arise in future Thailand may ask other countries to share
the burden of Burmese exiles,'' Chuan said.

He said Thailand's National Security Council had told him third countries
including Australia, Canada and the United States were prepared to accept up
to 3,000 refugees who fled military rule in their homeland.

Meanwhile the Foreign Ministry reprimanded the Burmese students at Maneeloy.
Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan said that the incident should not have
happened and was not acceptable to the Thai government or people.

''Thailand has provided Burmese students with shelter and freedom according
to Thai law. They should have the discipline to respect Thai law,'' Surin
said.
Ministry spokesman Don Pramudwinai said: ''The action was aggressive and
illegal.''

He said no action would, however, be taken against the 52 students unless
the UNHCR staff filed a complaint with police.

Security has been tightened at the centre with the deployment of 30 police,
some under cover, to ensure that there would be no repeat of Monday's
incident.

Pol Col Pornchai Benjathikul, the commander of Ratchaburi province's Paktho
district, where the centre is located, said that existing regulations
concerning the amount of time students were allowed out of the centre would
be reinforced.

''The students in the centre had never caused any problems, so the
regulations were relaxed, but the police and centre staff have been
instructed to enforce the regulations from now on,'' the officer said.

Students are allowed to leave the camp for two days at a time with the
permission of the centre chief. They need to ask for further permission from
the governor if they want to stay longer. Only the permanent secretary for
the interior can give permission for students to travel outside the
province.

Pornchai said that to ensure the safety of UNHCR staff responsible for
paying the stipend they should be accompanied by security officers while
working in the centre.

Ratchaburi authorities are investigating the incident, which was finally
resolved after negotiation with Ratchaburi governor Komet Daengthongdee late
on Monday.

The UNHCR yesterday issued a statement saying the incident had not been a
major one and should be kept in perspective.

However it urged the matter be investigated and measures taken with Thai
authorities so it did not happen again.

Deputy Ratchaburi governor Preecha Ruengchan, who will head the
investigation, visited the centre with UNHCR staff and Chaithawat Niemsiri,
the centre's chief.

A source said that their discussion had focused on construction of
additional buildings at the centre as plans were being drawn up to house all
Burmese students in Thailand at the centre.

The National Security Council said there were about 3,000 Burmese in
Thailand granted student status. About 1,100 live at the centre while the
rest are mainly in Bangkok.

Preecha said students would have their names struck from the centre's list
of residents should they stay away longer than their allotted time. This
means they could be arrested if caught outside the centre.

Komet told The Nation that people in the province were fed up with the
aggressive behaviour of the Burmese students.

La Sukwongse, a village headman in Paktho district, said that the Burmese
students had caused many problems.

''They sneak out of the centre and steal from people. Many of them get drunk
and noisy and disturb us,'' La said.

Villagers called off a protest against the student's presence because they
did not want to cause any problem with Thai authorities.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra said that there were many
countries, including the US and Canada, that had expressed willingness to
accept the Burmese students.

''We cannot force them to go. It is their decision whether to go to a third
country,'' he said.

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

BANGKOK POST: SUKHUMBHAND TESTIFIES ON ROLE IN EMBASSY CRISIS
20 October, 1999

Deputy Foreign Minister M.R. Sukhumbhand Paribatra yesterday testified to
police about his role in ending the Oct 1-2 siege of the Burmese embassy.

M.R. Sukhumbhand, who traded places with the hostages and flew with the.
five Burmese gunmen to the Thai Burmese border, said he did not talk much
with them aboard the helicopter because the engine was too noisy and the
atmosphere was tense.

He said the helicopter dropped off the armed students near Ratchaburi
border, refuelled in Kanchanaburi and flew back to Bangkok.

M.R. Sukhumbhand told newsmen after giving his testimony that Thailand did
not need to explain its actions to Burma, which has been deeply offended by
the attack on its embassy.

Burma has made it clear it will reopen its borders only when Thailand
apprehends the militant students, who have reportedly taken refuge with the
ethnic Karen "Army of God" guerrillas in the jungle.

M.R. Sukhumbhand said Rangoon should itself make the effort to arrest the
five students because they were on its side of the border.

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

BANGKOK POST: RANGOON DEPLOYS TROOPS TO CRACK DOWN ON SMUGGLERS
20 October, 1999 by Teerawat Khamtita

MOVE TO ENFORCE BORDER CLOSURE

CHIANG RAI

Burmese soldiers have been stationed at various locations in Tachilek
opposite Mae Sai to prevent smuggling following the closure of its orders.

Chiang Saen district's immigration police chief Pol Maj Nanthachai Benjakhan
said Burmese troops have been deployed to guard a pier on the Mekong River
in Ban Pong district since yesterday morning.

Suthorn Pha,orung, assistant chief of Chiang Saen Customs Office, said the
border closure was affecting the Burmese rather than Thais, as Ban Pong pier
was a major gateway for goods brought from China into Burma.

Fang, a Shan grocer in Tachilek, said some Burmese officials were demanding
500-1,000 baht from Thai merchants to turn a blind eye to the smuggling of
goods from Mae Sai to Tachilek.

According to Chiang Rai Commerce Office chief Navin Thepwong, the value of
cross-border trade between Thailand and Burma through Chiang Rai during
Jan-Sept 1999 totalled 1.707 billion baht- 1.594 billion baht in exports and
112 million baht in imports.

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

BANGKOK POST: TALKS ON FISHING RIGHTS PUT OFF
20 October, 1999

Ranong

A meeting between a senior Burmese military officer and the private sector
here to settle the conflict on fishing rights has been postponed again.

The meeting, scheduled for yesterday, was put off after Saturday's explosion
which destroyed a Burmese-registered oil tanker and killed two f its crew.

A Thai businessman with close ties with the Burmese military had agreed to
act as a go-between to help settle the conflict over fishing rights, sources
said yesterday.

Vikorm Aiyasiri, owner of Andaman Club Co which runs a border casino in
Burma, was recently approached by Thai businessmen here to convince Burma to
reopen its border and allow Thai boats to fish in its waters.

The Burmese border closure, which began about two weeks ago, has badly
affected the Thai fishing industry.

A source close to Mr Vikrom said the senior Burmese officer, citing
Saturday's explosion on board the Burmese oil tanker, asked that the meeting
be put off. However, the officer promised to meet with Thai businessmen
soon.

In Chiang Rai, meanwhile, the provincial chamber of commerce was planning to
invite Burmese representatives to a seminar on the economic co-operation
quadrangle on Oct 30.

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

XINHUA: 21 FOREIGN BANK OFFICES STILL OPERATING IN MYANMAR
20 October, 1999

Xinhua, Yangon 20 October 1999. Only 21 foreign bank representative offices
are still in operation out of the 39 stationed in Myanmar, the October issue
of the Today magazine reported.

The 21 bank offices include those from Bangladesh, France, China's Hong
Kong, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. The 18 others have
withdrawn for various reasons, including the impact of the Asian financial
crisis. These foreign bank offices were set up in the country after it
reformed its financial management system in line with the market-oriented
economic policy introduced in late 1988.

As the first phase of its financial reform, Myanmar allowed the
establishment of foreign bank representative offices in the country as well
as local private banks. The reform process entered the second phase in the
last two years with the signing of memorandums of understanding on setting
up joint-venture banks between six Myanmar private banks and six foreign
banks which had already opened offices in Myanmar.

Meanwhile, the number of local private banks has fallen to 17 from 19, the
magazine said. Of the local private banks in Myanmar, the Asia Wealth Bank,
the Yoma Bank and the Myanmar Mayflower Bank are leading in business and
have opened 32, 28 and 12 branches respectively.

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

XINHUA: MYANMAR-SINGAPORE BILATERAL TRADE FALLS
20 October, 1999

Xinhua, Yangon 20 October 1999. The value of the bilateral trade between
Myanmar and Singapore fell by 7.4 percent to 419.96 million U.S. dollars in
the first half of this year from 453.72 million dollars in the same period
of last year. During the first half, Myanmar's imports from Singapore
amounted to 367.42 million dollars, dropping by 8.9 percent from 403.55
million dollars in the corresponding period of last year, the official
economic indicators said in its latest issue.

Meanwhile, Myanmar's exports to Singapore stood at 52.54 million dollars,
increasing by 4.7 percent over the same period of last year which recorded
50.17 million dollars. The indicators also show that in 1998,
Myanmar-Singapore bilateral trade was as high as 992.33 million dollars,
with Myanmar's imports from Singapore amounting to 879.81 million dollars
while exports to Singapore standing at only 112.52 million dollars.

Singapore has become Myanmar's largest trading partner with its bilateral
trade with Myanmar accounting for 25 percent of the country's total foreign
trade annually. Singapore is also Myanmar's leading investor with 1.087
billion dollars injected into the country in 46 projects in the past five
years, which accounted for 19.27 percent of the 5.6415 billion dollars of
total foreign investment flowing into the country in the period.
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