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BurmaNet News: February 11, 2000
- Subject: BurmaNet News: February 11, 2000
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 06:59:00
=========== The BurmaNet News ===========
Tuesday, February 11, 2000
Issue # 1460
=========================================
NOTED IN PASSING:
"If the generals do not get the message, then Myanmar may remain a
decaying pariah state, with a rich elite plundering a grindingly poor
country."
The Economist (See THE ECONOMIST: THE AGONY OF THE OTHER LANDS)
=========
Headlines
=========
Burma Today in Brief--
Inside Burma--
THE ECONOMIST: THE AGONY OF THE OTHER LANDS
NLM: SENIOR GENERAL THAN SHWE INSPECTS PATHEIN-MONYWA ROAD,CULTIVATION
OF CROPS BY NATIONAL ENTREPRENEURS
International--
SIAM RAT: BURMESE SOLDIERS SENT TO THAI BORDER
XINHUA: MYANMAR-THAILAND BILATERAL TRADE FALLS SHARPLY
XINHUA: MYANMAR'S CEMENT PRODUCTION DROPS
XINHUA: MYANMAR-MALAYSIA BILATERAL TRADE DROPS SHARPLY
XINHUA: MYANMAR-SINGAPORE BILATERAL TRADE FALLS
THE NATION: MEKONG PROJECT SET TO ROLL AGAIN
JIR: INDIA AND MYANMAR LOOK TO BURY YEARS OF DISTRUST
LISBON DIARIO DE NOTICIAS: PORTUGUESE TROOPS LEAVE FOR UN MISSION IN
TIMOR--DELAYED BY BURMA'S REFUSAL TO ALLOW OVERFLIGHT
AP: UN CHIEF DECRIES USE OF CHILD SOLDIERS AFTER GOD'S ARMY
NATION: BANGKOK ORDERS HOSPITAL RAID TO BE RE-ENACTED
BANGKOK POST: MANEELOY CAMP RAID NETS NOTHING
RADIO AUSTRALIA: AUSTRALIA SAYS BURMA "CONSTRUCTIVE" ON FORMING HUMAN
RIGHTS BODY
AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT: DIPLOMATIC APPOINTMENT - AMBASSADOR TO BURMA
(MYANMAR)
INTER PRESS SERVICE: RIGHTS-JAPAN: NO WELCOME MAT FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS
Other--
AUST. BURMA COUNCIL: NOTE FROM AMANDA ZAPPIA
=========================================
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
BURMANET: BURMA TODAY IN BRIEF--February 11, 2000
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
The Economist calls The New Light of Myanmar "hysterical," the New Light
calls on Burma's private companies to be oxymorons: "national
entrepreneurs." Burmese and Thai troops face off on the border,
Thai/Burma cross border trade drops off. Burma produces less cement for
roads, the Asia Development Bank and Thailand produce promises for roads
in Burma.
Australia posts a new ambassador to Burma, India sends its Army chief of
staff to visit. Burma refuses to allow Portuguese army peace-keepers to
fly over on their way to East Timor.
The Thai Prime Minister and UN Secretary General Annan meet to talk
about Burma refugees. The PM's spokesman races for the microphones to
say Annan praised their victory at Ratchaburi and the Thai army says it
will reenact it. Next, Thai police arrest nine computers for
"irregular" messages. Annan, who is still doing mea culpas for not
saying much during the slaughter in Rwanda, isn't saying much about the
Thai spin on their meeting.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
INSIDE BURMA
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
THE ECONOMIST: THE AGONY OF THE OTHER LANDS
February 12, 2000 , U.S. Edition
Myanmar and Indochina remain the laggards
THE flight from Bangkok to Yangon, the capital of Myanmar, takes only
about an hour, but you need to turn your watch back because the local
time is 30 minutes behind Bangkok. It might as well be 30 years. Once
upon a time, when Bangkok was a quiet backwater, rich Thais would travel
to Yangon to go shopping. In the late 1950s the city was one of the
commercial capitals of Asia. That was when the World Bank reckoned that
Burma, as the country was then called, was destined to become one of the
most prosperous places in South-East Asia. But now its people are
oppressed by a brutal military regime, the economy is a shambles, and
only the black market, with its nasty whiff of drug-money, enables the
country to get by.
Myanmar has long been ruled by military governments, the latest of which
seized power in a coup in 1988. Every morning the regime's hysterical
mouthpiece, the New Light of Myanmar, urges the nation of 45m to be on
its guard against all manner of evils. A recent issue reporting a speech
by Major-general Kyi Aung, the minister for information, provides a fair
sample:In their attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of small
and developing nations by means of the media, big nations destabilise
target nations, spreading rumours, concoctions, disinformation and false
news, which aims at creating confusion and chaos and riots to topple the
government concerned and install their favoured elements as government.
Now they know. And no one in Myanmar is in any doubt who those "favoured
elements" are: the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), led
by Yangon's best-known resident, Aung San Suu Kyi. In 1990, in an
extraordinary demonstration of their remoteness from real life, the
generals decided to hold an election, convinced that their popularity
would ensure an easy victory for them. When Miss Suu Kyi, already under
house arrest, led her party to an overwhelming victory, they refused to
accept the result. Since then they have relentlessly harassed and
persecuted Miss Suu Kyi and her supporters. They have kept the main
universities closed for fear that students might cause trouble (although
some courses are now re-opening). And they have brushed off
international pressure for a dialogue with the NLD, and in particular
with Miss Suu Kyi.
The generals are drawing up a new constitution that seems likely to
entrench the role of the armed forces in political life permanently.
Their plan seems to be to call another election once the NLD has been
sufficiently dismembered. This time, thanks to their new constitution,
they think they will be able to get the result they want. That will
allow them to claim the legitimacy to govern, which in turn will cause
foreign aid and investment to resume.
An outdated blueprint
The big flaw in all this is that it is based on an out-of-date version
of the Indonesian model. In that country the armed forces long held
power, with a big role in political life and a block of seats in
parliament guaranteed by the constitution. Indonesia, too, held
elections, and President Suharto and his ruling party always won. If
Indonesia could do this, the thinking went, so could Myanmar. But when
the economic crisis came, President Suharto was forced from office. Now
the armed forces are coming under civilian control. After a reasonably
clean election, a civilian president, in the shape of Abdurrahman Wahid,
took over. When he was asked about Myanmar, he said: "Personally, my
sympathy goes to Suu Kyi."
When Mr Wahid visited Yangon, however, he was more circumspect. He
stayed away from Miss Suu Kyi, even though he had said earlier that he
would visit her. Even so, the message remained clear: with Indonesia now
on the road to democracy, a substantial part of South-East Asia was
hoping Myanmar would mend its ways. When five student exiles from
Myanmar took over their country's embassy in Bangkok last October,
Thailand agreed to fly them to the border with a rebel-held area of
Myanmar in return for the release of their hostages. Explaining the
action, a Thai minister called the gunmen "student activists" fighting
for democracy, rather than terrorists. Most Thais applauded. Myanmar
grumbled and temporarily closed its long land border with Thailand. But
the incident invited more trouble: some of the students were among ten
members of a more radical group who took over a Thai provincial hospital
in January. All of them were killed when Thai commandos rescued their
700 hostages.
For now, Myanmar remains in a stalemate. Both the generals and Miss Suu
Kyi are as stubborn as one another. They have all the guns, but she has
the moral high ground. That presents its own problems. Miss Suu Kyi is
an icon of democratic struggle who has won a Nobel peace prize and
commands international support. She is not the sort of person whom
western governments can easily chivvy into reaching an accommodation
with a military regime she detests. There is no reason why she should
budge.
All the same, there is now a glimmer of hope. A confidential World Bank
report, based on a study of Myanmar's economy and delivered to Yangon
late last year, gave warning that the country was caught in a sharp
downward spiral and that urgent reforms were needed. Myanmar seemed
prepared at least to discuss the report, even though it also urged
political change. Earlier the UN and the World Bank had offered $1
billion in development aid if the government were to begin talks with
the opposition.
Usefully, the pressure on Myanmar is now coming from the East as well as
the West. Following a meeting between the Japanese prime minister, Keizo
Obuchi, and the chairman of Myanmar's ruling council of generals,
General Than Shwe, on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit last November,
Japan indicated that it might resume some aid if there were signs that
Myanmar was ready to undertake political and economic reform. Myanmar
welcomed the Japanese initiative, but tried to make it look as though
Japan was breaking ranks with the West. Yet the Japanese said much the
same as the World Bank, albeit delivered in a more polite tone. "It's a
bit like throwing a hard ball and then a soft ball," said a spokesman
for Mr Obuchi. "What is important is that they get the message."
If the generals do not get the message, then Myanmar may remain a
decaying pariah state, with a rich elite plundering a grindingly poor
country. Discontent will fester and spread, perhaps even among some in
the armed forces -- which, although the biggest item in the government's
budget, are already facing cutbacks. The generals may be aware of that.
If they are not, change in Myanmar, when it comes, could be bloody...
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
NLM: SENIOR GENERAL THAN SHWE INSPECTS PATHEIN-MONYWA ROAD,CULTIVATION
OF CROPS BY NATIONAL ENTREPRENEURS
New Light of Myanmar
YANGON, 9 Feb - Chairman of the State Peace and
Development Council Commander-in-Chief of Defence
Services Senior General Than Shwe, accompanied by
Secretary-2 of the State Peace and Development Council
, Secretary-3, members of the State Peace and
Development Council Commander-in-Chief (Navy)
Vice-Admiral and Commander-in-Chief (Air), Deputy
Prime Minister Vice-Admiral , Chairman of Mandalay
Division Peace and Development Council Commander of
Central Command, the ministers, Chairman of Magway
Division Peace and Development Council and officials
left Minbu by car for Minhla Township along
Minbu-Padan-Pa- thein-Monywa Road and inspected
Pathein-Monywa Road on 8 February.
The Senior General and party went to the land
reclamation project of Yuzana Co Ltd in Kantoke region
in Minhla and inspected beans and pulses and crops and
cotton plantations.
Chairman of Yuzana Co Ltd U Htay Myint reported on the
project to reclaim 30,000 acres of land in Kantoke
region and Kyeekan region in Minhla and Minbu
Townships, completion of land reclamation and
cultivation of crops.
The Senior General gave guidance on cultivation of
crops on commercial scale after completion of pilot
cultivation for the region.
The Senior General signed in the visitors' book.
The Senior General and party went to the reclamation
project of Myanma Golden Star Co Ltd in Mindon
Township.
The Senior General and party inspected plantation of
Myanmar Golden Star Co Ltd. Chairman U Thein Tun
reported on reclamation of land in Mindon and Seikphyu
Townships, arrangement for reclamation of land,
cultivation of beans and pulses and other crops on the
reclaimed land, agricultural production in Seikphyu
Township and requirement for irrigation.
The Senior General then gave guidance...
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
INTERNATIONAL
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
SIAM RAT: BURMESE SOLDIERS SENT TO THAI BORDER
Translation by BBC Summary of World Broadcasts
February 11, 2000, Friday
'Siam Rat', Bangkok, in Thai 9 Feb 00 pp 1,13
Text of report by Thai newspaper 'Siam Rat' on 9th February
According to our reporter, on 8th February Mae Hong Son governor Phot
U-thana issued an urgent instruction to security units, including
volunteers and the Border Patrol Police [BPP] unit 336 at Pang Mu camp
to be on a 24-hour alert after six armed Burmese soldiers, including a
Burmese army lieutenant, were arrested for violation of Thai territory
at Ban Nam Phiangdin, Mae Sariang District.
At 0900 on the same day Col La Ngai, commander of Burmese Battalion 2 in
Ban Bo Ka deployed three battalions of about 1,200 Burmese soldiers and
their heavy weapons across the Thai border. He instructed the Battalion
530 to send an urgent message to the Thai army unit, demanding the
immediate and unconditional release of the six Burmese soldiers or face
an attack from Burma. The Thai BPP Company 336, armed with 120-mm
mortars and armoured vehicle V-150s, have been deployed in Ban Nam
Phiangdin.
The border situation has been tense. The audacious Burmese demand was
influenced by Burmese soldiers being confident of not facing possible
attack from the rear by the Shan State Army of Col Yotsuk, which had
surrendered to the Burmese recently.
Meanwhile, Col Phuchong Ratanawan, deputy director of army operations
department, said the Burmese border situation in Mae Hong Son Province
has become tense after the arrest of six Burmese soldiers for violation
of Thai territory in Ban Nam Phiangdin. The third army region is
interrogating the Burmese soldiers to find the reason for their
violation. The Burmese military attache has also sought release of the
Burmese soldiers. Col Phuchong said he will order immediate
reinforcement of the critical area of the border to protect the border
and keep the situation under control, not to seek confrontation with
Burmese soldiers.
The Burmese reportedly sent another battalion to the border after having
received no response from the Thai side, resulting in the number of
Burmese battalions deployed in the area to reach four. The Burmese also
reiterated the demand for immediate release of the six captured
soldiers. The deployment of the Burmese battalions opposite Ban Nam
Phiangdin, Pha Bong Subdistrict, Muang District, have put them only
about 20 km from the Mae Hong Son district seat.
The latest Burmese unit to reinforce the border is the Light Battalion
54, while the units which were there before are the Battalions No 530,
247, and 9. Thai military intelligence reports note that these units may
attack the Thai Ranger Company 3607 across the border. Therefore, Thai
units have been put on full alert, including the BPP company 336 and
Special Operation Units of the Mae Hong Son Provincial Police.
Residents of Ban Nam Phiangdin have prepared themselves for evacuation
in case a clash erupts. Two clashes occurred between Thai and Burmese
soldiers in Ban Nam Phiangdin in the past 10 years, the latest one being
in 1999 when an unidentified Burmese unit raided the village.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
XINHUA: MYANMAR-THAILAND BILATERAL TRADE FALLS SHARPLY
YANGON, February 9
Trade between Myanmar and Thailand amounted to 287 million U.S. dollars
in the first 10 months of 1999, falling by 22.84 percent from the same
period of 1998 when it was registered at 372 million dollars.
In the 10-month period, Myanmar's imports from Thailand stood at 240
million dollars, dropping by 16.37 percent from the corresponding period
of 1998 when it was recorded at 287 million dollars, according to the
latest Economic Indicators issued by the Central Statistical
Organization.
Meanwhile, Myanmar's exports to Thailand were 47 million dollars, down
by 44.7 percent from 85 million dollars in the same period of 1998.
The two countries' bilateral trade in the 10-month period accounted for
9.6 percent of Myanmar's total foreign trade.
Thailand has become Myanmar's fourth largest trading partner after
Singapore, China and Japan. Besides, Thailand is also Myanmar's largest
investor after Singapore and Britain.
During the period from April 1994 to October 1999, Thailand invested
961.2 million dollars in Myanmar in 27 projects.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
XINHUA: MYANMAR'S CEMENT PRODUCTION DROPS
YANGON, February 10
Myanmar produced a total of 269, 013 tons of cement in the first 10
months of 1999, a drop of 14.56 percent compared with the same period of
1998 when it was 314,883 tons, according to the latest figures of the
country's Central Statistical Organization.
In 1998, Myanmar's cement output totaled 364,959 tons.
In recent years, Myanmar has sped up the pace of infrastructural
construction of roads, bridges and dams, resulting in a shortage of
cement day by day.
To meet the rising demand for cement, Myanmar imports cement worth about
70 million U.S. dollars annually. To save the foreign exchange, the
government plans to build more cement plants.
It is reported that Myanmar is trying to get a foreign loan of 150
million dollars to build a 4,000-ton daily-capacity large- scale cement
plant.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
THE NATION: MEKONG PROJECT SET TO ROLL AGAIN
February 11, 2000, Friday
Nareerat Wiriyapong , Pichaya Changsorn / The Nation
SEEMINGLY stalled by the economic crisis, the ambitious Greater Mekong
Sub-region project is ready to forge ahead, Nareerat Wiriyapong and
Pichaya Changsorn report.
As evidenced by border trade figures between Thailand and its
neighbouring countries which have continued to grow spectacularly during
the economic turmoil, the vision to develop the Greater Mekong
Sub-region (GMS) has survived the financial crisis that hit Southeast
Asia in 1997.
Hundreds of senior government officials and business leaders from the
six GMS countries yesterday met at business workshops, organised in
Bangkok by the Board of Investment, to discuss ways to revitalise the
"emerging growth area" - the words used by Thai Deputy Prime Minister
and Commerce Minister Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi.
"Not withstanding the permeation of the regional economic crisis, the
Thai government still has a firm policy to support the GMS cooperative
by setting aside about US$350 million in the year 2000 for various
programmes contributing to the GMS," Supachai said in his opening
remarks.
Thailand's GMS budget includes loans for the building of airports in
Luang Prabang and Northern Burma, a highway in Laos, and for road
rehabilitation from Mae Sod to Myawaddi-Pa-an. The Mae
Sod-Myawaddi-Pa-an road, which could be connected further to Rangoon,
will be the west end of the so-called Thailand-Laos-Vietnam East-West
Corridor project scheduled for completion in 2003.
The GMS countries - Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Burma and China's
Yunnan Province - through which the Mekong River runs, have a combined
population of about 250 million.
Several projects - roads, airports and hydro power plants - earmarked
under the GMS programme were put on hold during the economic crisis. The
recent GMS ministerial meeting held at the Asian Development Bank's
(ADB) headquarters in Manila has decided that governments should take
back some highway concessions granted to private investors in a bid to
accelerate construction.
PM's Office Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told the conference that GMS
countries must try to complete the infrastructure projects committed
under the plan to regain the confidence of the private sector and ensure
that private contractors will be encouraged to participate in the
development.
"But it is not just the completion of the physical infrastructure -
legal institutions and the software side of the infrastructure have to
be created. For example, there is the draft agreement on commercial
navigation," said Abhisit who oversees the Thai investment promotion
office.
Thailand, China, Laos and Burma plan to sign the draft agreement on
commercial navigation on the Lancang-Mekong River in Rangoon soon.
Despite the 1997-1999 economic crisis, Thailand's cross-border trade
volumes have been growing by an average of 30 per cent a year since
1993.
As the GMS scheme is now approaching the implementation stage, Supachai
recalled the need for GMS members to find more partners in addition to
the ADB in a bid to speed up the programme. He said the private sector
should take a full and active role in GMS projects, which have to be
driven by market needs.
Myoung-Ho Shin, vice president-regional west of ADB, said increasing
optimism over the recovery of economies in the region will help
revitalise investment opportunities in the GMS area.
Despite the pledge from the government, Vikrom Kromadit, chief executive
officer of the Amata Group, said investment projects under the GMS
cooperation have been progressing slowly to date.
Only the projects which have private-sector participation, such as the
power plants, are proceeding since the GMS project was established in
1992. The Amata Group is now joining forces with the Yunnan government
and the US natural park agency Nature Conservancy to develop a natural
park with a total area of 40 to 50 rai in Kun Ming. The project is still
at the design stage, though.
To get the project off the ground, Vikrom said the developers have
diversified their targeted financial sources, including banks such as
the World Bank and the ADB, the governments of the GMS countries and
private donors such as General Motors, General Electric, and American
Investment Group (AIG).
He said that to support private sector investment in GMS projects,
back-up investment is needed from international agencies like the United
Nations.
"Also, the GMS governments should introduce special investment
incentives and investment risk guarantee measures for the private sector
to encourage their participation in the projects," Vikrom said.
Jingjai Hanchanlash, Loxley Plc's first senior vice president for
international group, said the project which has shown the most progress
under the GMS cooperation is the East-West Corridor which would
facilitate the transport of products made in the sub-region to the
Indian Ocean through Burma.
Toru Tatara, head of ADB's GMS unit, said the bank has already provided
US$100 million in financial assistance to the GMS project. In addition,
the governments of France and Germany have provided co-financing for
some projects under the GMS programme.
"The next project we expect to see is the North-South Corridor (highway)
linking China and Vietnam which would be extended to Thailand," he said.
The Japanese government has provided some financial assistant to
Thailand for the construction of the road linking Mukdahan with
Suwannaket.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
XINHUA: MYANMAR-MALAYSIA BILATERAL TRADE DROPS SHARPLY
YANGON, February 10
Trade between Myanmar and Malaysia amounted to 172 million U.S. dollars
in the first 10 months of 1999, a drop of 27.42 percent over the same
period of 1998 when it was 237 million dollars.
Of the total, Myanmar's imports from Malaysia were valued at 129 million
dollars, down 38.86 percent compared with the 211 million dollars
registered in the corresponding period of 1998, the official Economic
Indicators said in its latest issue.
Meanwhile, Myanmar's exports to Malaysia stood at 43 million dollars,
increasing by 65.38 percent compared with the 26 million dollars in the
same period of 1998.
During the 10-month period of 1999, Myanmar-Malaysia bilateral trade
accounted for 5.76 percent of Myanmar's total foreign trade.
Malaysia is not only Myanmar's main trading partner but also its main
investor. During the period from April 1994 to October 1999, Malaysia
invested 533.42 million dollars in Myanmar in 22 projects, being the
third biggest investor in the country after Singapore and Thailand among
the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
RADIO AUSTRALIA: AUSTRALIA SAYS BURMA "CONSTRUCTIVE" ON FORMING HUMAN
RIGHTS BODY
BBC Summary of World Broadcasts
February 11, 2000, Friday
Melbourne
in English
0700 gmt 10 Feb 00
Text of report by Radio Australia on 10th February
Australia says Burma is being constructive about creating an independent
human rights institution for Burma. The foreign minister, Alexander
Downer, says Burma has responded to Australia's idea for setting up the
human rights body. He says Australia will help set up the independent
institution if Burma continues to be constructive.
Mr Downer describes Australia's relations with Burma as cordial, but
says they can't become closer until Burma resolves differences with the
political opposition and ethnic groups. He says Burma is the major
source of heroin entering Australia.
The foreign minister made the comments in announcing that Australia's
new ambassador to Burma is to be Trevor Wilson, previously the
number-two man in Australia's embassy in Tokyo.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT: DIPLOMATIC APPOINTMENT - AMBASSADOR TO BURMA
(MYANMAR)
Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Downer
I have today announced the appointment of Mr Trevor Wilson as
Australian Ambassador to Burma (Myanmar).
Mr Wilson will replace Ms Lyndall McLean AM, who has been Ambassador
since April 1997.
Australia shares cordial relations with Burma. The Australian
Government would, in the future, wish to have a closer relationship with
Burma but this cannot happen without real movement on political reform,
including improvements in the human rights situation. We believe it is
in Burma's best interests that the Government there resolve its
differences with the political opposition and ethnic groups through
negotiation and dialogue.
In recent months we have welcomed Burma's response to the Australian
Government's initiative for the establishment of an independent human
rights institution for Burma. We are prepared to help Burma achieve this
goal on the basis that the Burmese Government's approach continues to be
constructive.
We have also been encouraged by recent anti-narcotics activities in
Burma, in particular the efforts of the Burmese Government since
accession to ASEAN in 1997 to enforce its obligations under the
international drug treaties. As Burma is the major source of heroin
entering Australia, the Australian Government attaches high priority to
supporting domestic and international anti-narcotics activities there.
To this end, an Australian Federal Police officer will be attached to
our Embassy in Rangoon for a trial period.
Since joining the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1967, Mr Wilson has
had a number of appointments in that Department as well as working in
the Departments of Defence (1978-79) and Prime Minister and Cabinet
(1992-95). During 1995-96, he served as Senior Adviser to the Minister
for Foreign Affairs.
Mr Wilson's overseas assignments include three postings in Japan
(1968-71, 1980-83 and most recently as Deputy Head of Mission in Tokyo
from 1996-00) as well as in Laos (1973-76) and the United States
(1989-91).
During his career, he has worked on both defence and security affairs
as well as on trade and economic affairs. In addition to Japan, his
geographic experience in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
covers South-East Asia (as Head of the Indochina Section) and the South
Pacific (as Head of the Papua New Guinea Section).
Mr Wilson graduated from the Australian National University with an
honours degree in Asian Studies and is married with four children.
CONTACT: Innes Willox
Tel: +61 02 6277 7500
Matt Francis/Julie McDonald
Tel: +61 02 6261 1555
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
XINHUA: MYANMAR-SINGAPORE BILATERAL TRADE FALLS
YANGON, February 9
The value of trade between Myanmar and Singapore fell by 12.12 percent
to 674 million U.S. dollars in the first 10 months of 1999 from the 767
million dollars in the same period of 1998.
During the 10-month period, Myanmar's imports from Singapore amounted to
570 million dollars, dropping by 20.5 percent from the 717 million
dollars in the corresponding period of 1998, the official Economic
Indicators said in its latest issue.
Meanwhile, Myanmar's exports to Singapore stood at 104 million dollars,
increasing by 108 percent over the same period of 1998 when it showed 50
million dollars.
During the 10-month period, the two countries' bilateral trade accounted
for 22.57 percent of Myanmar's total foreign trade.
Singapore is not only Myanmar's biggest trading partner but also the
largest investor. During the period from April 1994 to October 1999,
Singapore injected 1.09 billion dollars into Myanmar in 47 projects.
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JIR: INDIA AND MYANMAR LOOK TO BURY YEARS OF DISTRUST
JANE'S INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
18 January 2000
A landmark exchange of military visits earlier this month indicates a
warming of relations between India and Myanmar, following years of
distrust that have verged on open hostility. Indian Army Chief of Staff
Gen V P Malik led a tri-service delegation to Mandalay on 5 January. His
counterpart, Myanmar Army Chief Gen Maung Aye, accompanied the Indian
group the following day to Shillong, headquarters of the Indian Air
Force Eastern Command and a centre for several military and paramilitary
units of India's border security forces. Among the results of the
meetings were agreements on improving communication links and the launch
of regular
consultations concerning border security issues.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
LISBON DIARIO DE NOTICIAS: PORTUGUESE TROOPS LEAVE FOR UN MISSION IN
TIMOR--DELAYED BY BURMA'S REFUSAL TO ALLOW OVERFLIGHT
(Internet version) in Portuguese 0000 GMT 8 Feb 00
[Translated by FBIS]
After five frustrated attempts, the first contingent of Portuguese
troops left for East Timor yesterday. The defense minister gave
assurances that the necessary authorization had been given for the first
plane to leave. He was speaking at the farewell ceremony. About 250
soldiers left for Darwin...
The minister stressed that "the government did everything possible
to ensure" the troops' transport. [Some of the delays were caused by
Portugal and the UN arguing over who would pay for the transport].
"Burma
did not want to" authorize a "Blue Helmet" humanitarian and human rights
flight to fly over its air space, the minister explained. Yesterday 40
police officers also left for Timor.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
NATION: BANGKOK ORDERS HOSPITAL RAID TO BE RE-ENACTED
Feb. 10
BANGKOK -- Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai has ordered commandos who took
part in the pre-dawn raid that ended the Ratchaburi hospital siege to
re-enact their attack in order to dispel allegations that the Myanmar
rebels were killed in cold blood.
The re-enactment would be carried out in front of the local and foreign
press, government spokesman Akapol
Sorasuchart said.
"The government has tried all along to point out facts. I
want to state that reports alleging that the gunmen were
summarily executed were false," he added.
Mr Chuan said criticism from within Thailand and from
abroad had damaged the country's reputation. Many of
the allegations were based on misleading information, he
claimed.
The police, army and the Foreign Ministry had been
ordered to come up with a report to clarify
misunderstandings, he added.
At least 10 gunmen from the ethnic Karen God's Army
rebel group crossed into Thailand late last month and took over the
hospital for 22 hours.
The crisis ended after Thai commandos stormed the
complex, killing all the gunmen.
Witnesses reportedly claimed that a number of those
killed had surrendered before being ordered to strip and
were shot in the head.
Journalists who viewed the bodies after the siege said the gunmen
appeared to have all been shot only in the head. At least one appeared
to have his hands tied behind his back.
But the Thai government and police officials have
dismissed angrily reports that the men were slain in cold
blood. -- The Nation/Asia News Network, AFP
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AP: UN CHIEF DECRIES USE OF CHILD SOLDIERS AFTER GOD'S ARMY
BANGKOK (AP)--U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan lamented Thursday the
plight of child soldiers like those in the Myanmar rebel group called
God's Army, which was involved in a disastrous raid on a Thai provincial
hospital two
weeks ago.
Annan praised Thai authorities for bringing the siege to an end without
harming any of the hundreds of hostages, but said the incident pointed
to the increasing use of child soldiers across the world.
Children are being turned into "fighting machines," he was quoted as
saying by Thai government spokesman Akapol Sorasuchart, after a meeting
with Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai in Bangkok.
The rebels, including three students who took shelter with the God's
Army after pulling off a raid at the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok in
October, took
over the hospital to pressure Thailand to grant them refuge from
fighting with Myanmar forces. All 10 hostage-takers were shot and killed
by Thai commandos. Myanmar is also known as Burma.
God's Army, led by 12-year-old twins Johnny and Luther Htoo, is fighting
for survival in jungles along the Thai-Myanmar border, where they have
battled the Myanmar military regime for three years.
The twins, who were not among the 10 killed at the Ratchaburi hospital,
are believed by their 100 to 200 followers to have mystical powers that
make them invulnerable in battle. Many of their followers are children
as well.
The Myanmar government, which has been criticized by the U.N. for
widespread human rights abuses, claims that God's Army is a front for a
bigger rebel army of ethnic Karen insurgents, which is using the
children to win
international sympathy for their cause.
Annan is in Thailand for the opening of a major U.N. trade and
development conference that starts Saturday.
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BANGKOK POST: MANEELOY CAMP RAID NETS NOTHING
Feb. 11, 2000
Sunan Ochakachorn
A special task force made a lightning raid on the Maneeloy holding
centre for Burmese students early yesterday morning, but found nothing
illegal.
The visit by a combined force of 1,000 police and military was part of
the security build-up to the 10th Unctad meeting.
Komate Daengthongdee, the Ratchaburi governor, said no weapons, illegal
items or undocumented aliens were found in the four-hour search.
Authorities, however, took away nine computers for further checks for
"irregular" messages or information that might reveal any political
movements and also seized a large number of communications devices and
medical equipment.
Seventeen people held for questioning were all found to have ID cards
issued by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, which runs
the Maneeloy centre, and were released.
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INTER PRESS SERVICE: RIGHTS-JAPAN: NO WELCOME MAT FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS
February 9, 2000, Wednesday
By Suvendrini Kakuchi
TOKYO, Feb. 9
A law that criminalizes overstaying by foreign nationals in Japan is set
to be implemented this month, even as lawyers and human rights activists
try to spotlight the country's poor record on accepting refugees.
The law, which penalizes illegal aliens with a prison term of up to
three years, appears to be aimed primarily at illegal workers. But it
may affect applicants for refugee status as well -- people who, lawyers
and activists say, have a very hard time getting Tokyo's approval to
stay.
"The shameful situation is that it is almost impossible for a foreigner
to gain refugee status in Japan," says lawyer Satoshi Murata, who is
currently appearing for a Burmese man who has applied for special
permission to stay in Japan citing political persecution.
"This is because of a system that rejects a humanitarian approach to
accepting political refugees," argues Murata.
Last year, Japan accepted a total of 11 refugees, down from 16 in 1998.
Some 200 applications for refugee status are received annually by the
government. A justice ministry official says applicants usually wait a
year for the decision on their cases.
But government officials say there is no grand plan against asylum
seekers.
An official of the refugee application department at the justice
ministry told IPS that the problem lies in the fact that "most
foreigners applying for refugee status arrive on fake passports or as
stowaways on ships."
"We do not have a basic policy that stipulates clear conditions for
recognizing refugees. The status is granted after careful consideration
of each individual case," he says.
Last year, Japan ratified the U.N. Convention on Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which stipulates
that signatories should not send a person to a country where the
individual may be subjected to persecution.
But activists say Tokyo remains reluctant to accept foreigners and
continues to reject applications for asylum without explaining why to
the public.
Comments Murata: "I suspect Japan does not want foreigners, believing
that helping them is not going to benefit the country."
"Fundamentally the Japanese government views foreigners suspiciously
because they are considered to act and think differently from the
Japanese and therefore will be a cause for social disruption," Murata
explains. "This viewpoint supports a policy that makes it very difficult
for foreigners to gain residence in Japan."
In December, a group of 34 Kurds facing deportation visited the Tokyo
Regional Immigration Bureau in an attempt to publicize their desperate
situation. They told reporters that their applications for refugee
status, filed in 1996, had been turned down despite their pleas that
they face prison sentences in Turkey.
A Kurdish separatist group has been fighting the Turkish government for
the last 15 years. Last year, Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan was
captured by Turkish authorities, put on trial and then sentenced to
death by a Turkish court. The sentence is on hold.
Lawyer Takeshi Ohashi, a supporter of the Kurdish refugees here in
Japan, said that when he visited Turkey last September, he found two
Kurds who had been deported from Japan behind bars.
He said Tokyo is "acting against the international convention on
refugees" in continuing to turn down the applications of people like the
Kurds to stay.
One of Ohashi's clients, an Iranian, got deported just three months ago,
while in the midst of a hunger strike that he staged at a detention
center.
The Iranian, who was also seeking refugee status, was apparently too
weak to even walk when authorities decided to load him on a plane, as he
had been on hunger strike for two weeks. But that did not stop
authorities from whisking him to the airport, where he was sent off on a
long flight home.
According to Ohashi, the Iranian's request to meet with officials from
the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees had been refused by authorities.
This, says Ohashi, was the reason why his client thought it was time to
go on a hunger strike.
Another case that caused a stir was the deportation in August of an
Eritrean-Ethiopian who was seeking refugee status. The applicant had
several severe burn scars on his body that he said were the results of
his being tortured in Ethiopia. But that failed to impress officials and
he was forcibly flown to Bangkok, where he refused to continue his trip
home.
The would-be refugee has since told activists that he was anaesthetized
when Japanese authorities made him board the plane to Bangkok. The
justice ministry has denied this allegation, but his lawyer Shogo
Watanabe announced recently that they are planning to file a lawsuit
this month against the government.
Yet lawyers themselves admit that one of the problems of asylum seekers
in Japan is the absence of clear-cut rules to determine just what makes
a refugee. Ohashi says Japanese immigration laws also "do not spell
clear rules on how to get refugee status."
He adds, referring to the treatment of refugee seekers in this country:
"There is very little we can do to stop (these) blatant abuse of human
rights."
But the justice ministry official interviewed by IPS also pointed out
that the government had granted special permission for an Iranian
family, part of a group that had visited the Immigration Authority in
September, to stay in Japan.
In a statement, the justice ministry issued a statement that said the
family was given permission in view of the fact that its 16-year old son
had been enrolled at a Japanese high school for the past nine years and
could have faced difficulties if the family was sent back to Iran.
However the ministry rejected a similar application by a Burmese family,
and detained the 43-year old father until the family is actually
deported. The ministry said it rejected the Burmese family because its
2-year- old daughter is young enough to adapt to life back in Burma.
Meanwhile, foreigners who have been overstaying in Japan have been
flocking to immigration offices since September, in an effort to get
their papers in order before the new law criminalizing illegal status
comes into effect on Feb 18.
In the past decade, Japan has seen an influx of illegal entrants --
mostly from neighboring Asian countries such as China -- seeking jobs
that most Japanese do not want because of long work hours and dangerous
conditions.
The justice ministry estimates that there are now some 270,000 foreign
workers who have overstayed their visas.
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OPINION/EDITORIALS
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OTHER
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AUST. BURMA COUNCIL: NOTE FROM AMANDA ZAPPIA
Amanda Zappia [azappia@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Friday, February 11, 2000 7:27 AM
Dear all,
As you are probably aware by now, my father has another primary cancer.
This time it is Mesothilioma which is a particularly vicious decease
which has a prognosis of three to twelve months. He was operated on the
5th
January to remove a large tumour but the decease has already spread
further. Once again he has embarked on a regime of therapy which
includes nutritional care, Chinese herbal medicine and meditation. The
conservative
medical world sends these patients home to die without any hope of
recovery but Dad has faith that he can, once again, cure himself with
the help of the East.
Most of you know how close I am to my father and how much support he has
given our movement. He now needs my emotional support and hands on
assistance. I am brewing the herbs, sitting with him till he sleeps at
night and working with conservatives and alternate doctors to try and
find safe ways to relieve his pain and nausea. Also helping to run his
office. It might sound excessive, but it is a full time job.
I have waited for his instant recovery so that I could get back into
this office and get on with my work for Burma but this it seems is not
going to happen in the near future. For this reason I have made the
very difficult decision that I am unable to work for the movement for
the time being. I have consulted with Prime Minister, NCGUB, Dr Sein
Win, Dr Thaung Htun,
Burma UN Service Office and Maung Maung, General Secretary of the FTUB,
all being my key employers. Rather than resignation their preference is
extended leave for up to twelve months. I have agreed to that.
Please do not think that this decision has been made lightly or easily.
I am devoted to the democratic movement of Burma and the many wonderful
people with whom I work, however, I simply have no option. At a
personal level I am here if I can help with advice or contacts,
nationally or internationally.
The Australia Burma Council will need to hold a special meeting with the
Burma Office in Sydney and in consultation with the NCGUB / FTUB to
decide who will be my contact point for the purpose of referral and
action. This will require some organisation but as soon as possible you
will be informed of who will be taking over the various aspects of the
work of this office.
Your understanding in this matter is sought.
My love to each and every one of you.
Amanda Zappia
Working on behalf of the:
National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB)
Federation of Trade Unions, Burma (FTUB)
Australia Burma Council (ABC)
PO Box 2024, Queanbeyan, NSW 2620
Tel: (612) 6297 7734 Fax: (612) 6297 7773
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For free subscriptions or to contact The BurmaNet News--
Email: strider@xxxxxxx
Voice mail: +1 (435) 304-9274
Fax: +1 (810)454-4740
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