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=========== THE BURMANET NEWS ===========
== An on-line newspaper covering Burma ==
=========== www.burmanet.org ============

To view the version of this issue with photographs, 
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http://theburmanetnews.editthispage.com/stories/storyReader$144



NOTED IN PASSING:  

'The increased use of landmines in Burma has escaped world notice due 
to restrictions on media access to the country and the remote
locations 
in which mines are used within Burma'  

Landmine Campaign Thailand (see AFP: OPPOSITION CONDEMNS MYANMAR 
OVER LANDMINE USE)


Wednesday, March 1, 2000
Issue # 1475


Inside Burma--

AP: MYANMAR TRADE AND INVESTMENT HIT BY SANCTIONS, ASIAN
FINANCIAL CRISIS: GENERAL
AFP: OPPOSITION CONDEMNS MYANMAR OVER LANDMINE USE


International--

THE NATION: UN QUERIES FATE OF MISSING KARENS 
AFP: THAI ARMY DENIES IT 'DISAPPEARED' KAREN REFUGEES
THE NATION: ETHNIC CHILDREN BEAR BRUNT OF BORDER STRIFE 
BANGKOK POST: ALIEN LABOUR CLAMPDOWN A BIG FAILURE
THE WEEK MAGAZINE (India): GROUNDED
THE WEEK MAGAZINE (India): ENTER KHAPLANG

Opinion/Editorial--

CRPP: UNION DAY STATEMENT 


=========================================



*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
 INSIDE BURMA
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


AP: MYANMAR TRADE AND INVESTMENT HIT BY SANCTIONS, ASIAN
FINANCIAL CRISIS: GENERAL

March 1, 2000

YANGON, Myanmar (AP)  A top Myanmar general has conceded that 
the country has struggled to promote international trade and
attract foreign investment over the past decade, state-run
newspapers reported Wednesday.

Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, secretary one of the ruling military
council, told a coordination meeting of the Commerce Ministry on
Tuesday, that the country had been hit by Asia's financial crisis
that struck in 1997 and economic sanctions imposed by Western
nations, the Mirror newspaper reported.

Myanmar military imposed a socialist command economy on the
country when it seized power in 1962, but soon after the current
regime took control in 1988, it introduced free market reforms.
After a minor boom in the early and mid 1990s, the economy has
languished. According to a World Bank study late last year, foreign
investment approvals slumped 95 percent in the last fiscal year.
In a rare admission of problems facing the stricken economy,
Khin Nyunt said that despite the government's efforts to encourage
foreign investment and trade since the free market system was
adopted, ``noticeable achievements have not been made.''
But he also said the economy was recovering. Myanmar's gross
domestic product, or the value of goods and services produced in
the nation, grew by 4.6 percent last year, Khin Nyunt said.
The World Bank study concluded that the regime's policies rather
than the regional economic malaise were to blame for economic
stagnation, and urged the military to undertake major political and
economic reforms.

The regime has refused to hand over power to the party of
pro-democrat leader Aung San Suu Kyi whose party swept general
elections held in 1990 but was blocked by the military from taking
power.

In a thinly veiled reference to Suu Kyi, Khin Nyunt warned
officials to be aware of attempts by ``internal destructive
elements,'' who were trying to hamper economic development and
cause hardship in a bid to destabilize the country.
Suu Kyi has urged Western nations not to invest in Myanmar,
saying it only benefits the ruling military and its associates, and
not the whole population in Myanmar. Myanmar is one of the world's
poorest countries.

Last month, the United States reaffirmed that it would maintain
its sanctions, including a ban on new investment in Myanmar
introduced in 1997, unless the military regime moved toward
democracy.


*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

AFP: OPPOSITION CONDEMNS MYANMAR OVER LANDMINE USE

BANGKOK, March 1 (AFP) - Myanmar's outlawed opposition and an 
influential lobby group on Wednesday called on the country's junta 
to sign an international treaty banning anti-personnel mines.

In a statement issued through the Thailand Campaign to Ban Landmines, 
the Committee Representing the People's Parliament said it would 
ratify the international convetion on landmines this year.

The Yangon-based committee was founded in 1988 to represent 
members of parliament who gained seats in the 1990 general election, 
won in a landslide by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for
Democracy.

The parliament has never been allowed to meet by Myanmar's military 
government, which is yet to sign the anti-landmines treaty concluded 
in Ottawa in 1997.

"The increased use of landmines in Burma has escaped world notice due 
to restrictions on media access to the country and the remote
locations in which mines are used within Burma," Campaign said in an 
accompanying statement. It said Myanmar was the only member of 
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations still laying glandmines.

Several insurgent groups are still battling the Myanmar military,
which has been trying to conclude ceasefires with myriad ethnic
armies in the country. The committee quoted an nternational Labour
Organisation statement that accused the Myanmar military of forcing
labourers to walk ahead of troops into mined areas.

"Anti-personnel mines cause deaths and terrible mutilation even among 
those who produce and use them," the ILO statement said.

"The tragic consequences affect soldiers of the Burmese Army and
other armed organisations who are also citizens of he country."
Myanmar did not take part in the Ottawa process which led to the 
treaty, saying it did not want to associate itself with states 
that signed up. Anti-landmines campiagners say thousands of 
people have been killed or mimed by mines but exact figures 
are unavailable.

The Thailand Campaign to Ban Landmines groups NGOs such as the
Campaign Core Group, Justice and Peace Commission of Thailand, 
Jesuit Refugee Services, Handicap International and Nonviolence 
International SE Asia.


***

BurmaNet adds--

Related Link: http://www.igc.org/nonviolence/burmamines/report99.html


*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
 INTERNATIONAL
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


THE NATION: UN QUERIES FATE OF MISSING KARENS 

March 1, 2000

THE United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 
said yesterday it was concerned about nearly 50 
ethnic Karen men, who were reportedly taken into the 
jungle by Thai soldiers two weeks ago and have not 
been heard from since. 

A spokesman at the UNHCR's Bangkok office, speaking 
under customary condition of anonymity, said the 
agency had made inquiries to Thai authorities about 
the missing group and was waiting for news about what 
had happened to them. 

Informed Thai Army sources at Thai-Burma border in 
western Ratchaburi province confirmed to The Nation 
that a group of about 60 Karen men were separated 
from their fleeing families and detained at the 
border near Huay Sud Pass in Baan Ta Ko Lang of Suan 
Phung district. 

The sources said forces of Task Force 29 detained the 
group to check for arms and for questioning. The 
sources said they did not know what happened to them 
afterwards. 

Karen refugees told The Nation that their male family 
members were blocked from entering Thailand and have 
gone missing since they fled into the Kingdom in 
early February. They said they feared the men might 
have been killed or pushed back to the battlefield 
where the Burmese Army was advancing. 

The Ninth Infantry Division has strictly banned the 
media from the border area in Ratchaburi and 
Kanchanaburi since five Burmese gunmen captured the 
Burmese Embassy in Bangkok last October and were 
given passage to freedom in exchange for releasing 
about 80 hostages. 

The Associated Press reported the group of men was 
first reported missing by refugees sheltering in a 
temporary camp at Baw Wii, in Ratchaburi province. 
Refugees told human rights workers that 48 men had 
been rounded up and marched toward the forest on 
about Feb 15 by soldiers of Task Force 29. 
It is believed the missing men were among the 1,400 
Karens who had fled into Thailand followed heavy 
fighting on the Burmese side of the border between 
Burmese troops and Karen fighters, including 
guerrillas of God's Army, a fringe rebel group led by 
12-year-old twins. It was not clear whether the men 
were civilians or combatants. 

An officer at Task Force 29, based at Suan Pueng 
district in Ratchaburi, said he did not know anything 
about the missing men. He declined to give his name. 
Thailand, host to more than 100,000 refugees on its 
long border with Burma, has said it is willing to 
provide refuge to unarmed people fleeing the latest 
fighting. 

Thailand has stepped up security at the border after 
guerrillas from God's Army and the allied Vigorous 
Burmese Student Warriors raided a Ratchaburi 
provincial hospital in January. Commandos shot dead 
all 10 rebels involved in the raid to release 
hostages trapped inside the hospital.
 
Associated Press, The Nation (March 1, 2000 )


*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

AFP: THAI ARMY DENIES IT 'DISAPPEARED' KAREN REFUGEES

BANGKOK, March 1 (AFP) - Thailand's army on 
Wednesday denied reports that its soldiers separated 
a group of ethnic Karen men fleeing Myanmar from their 
families and marched them into the jungle.

The group of about 60 men have according to reports in the 
Thai media not been heard from since dissapearing two weeks ago.

Army spokesman Colonel Sokuan Seangpattaranetr said the 
report in the Nation newspaper that the Thai Army had detained 
the men along the Thai-Myanmar border was "a misunderstanding."

The men did not want to stay on Thai soil and chose to return to 
Myanmar, he told AFP, adding that Thailad had no idea about their 
current whereabouts. The United Nations High Commissioner for 
Refugees (UNHCR) had asked Thai authorities about the missing 
group of men and was waiting for a response, the Nation 
said Wednesday.

A UNHCR source said on condition of anonymity Wednesday he had 
no knowledge of new developments on the case but added that a 
statement could be issued later.

Somkuan asid the army and the foreign ministry will soon 
explan to the UNHCR what happened to the men.

It was unclear whether the missing men were civilians or guerillas. 
More than 1,300 Karens have fled into Thailand since heavy fighting 
erupted aerlier this month between Myanmar troops and Karen guerilla 
groups including God's Army and the Vigorous Burmese Student
Warriors. 

The two groups were blamed for the ospital siege in western Thailand 
last year in which hundreds of people were held hostage until 
all 10 rebels were killed in a raid by special forces.

Already home to more than 120,000 refugees from Myamar,
Thailand has said it will provide refuge for anyone 
escaping the latest fighting.


*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


THE NATION: ETHNIC CHILDREN BEAR BRUNT OF BORDER STRIFE 

March 1, 2000

IN the aftermath of the January attack on Ratchaburi 
Hospital by 10 guerrillas, some of whom belong to the 
Karen splinter group God's Army, the Thai military 
has stepped up border security and all ethnic 
guerrilla troops on Thai soil have been pushed back 
into Burma. 

The remnants of the guerrillas' enforced retreat are, 
unfortunately, a number of ethnic children. Their 
parents have not taken them along when they moved 
back to Burma. 

In Ratchaburi's Suan Phung district, the children 
have been left at schools run by the Border Patrol 
Police. 

Fourteen helpless children have taken refuge at Ban 
Thahin School. Their teachers had no choice but to 
give them shelter and food. At the nearby Tako 
Pidthong School, 41 ethnic children have been plunged 
into the same situation. 
Assoc Prof Dr Thongkhoon Hongphan, a deputy permanent 
secretary to the Education Ministry, has appealed for 
help from the private sector, since the ministry's 
budget to support these children is falling way 
short. 

Thongkhoon said he recently visited the two schools, 
where the teachers are actually full-time border 
police, but who are now tending to a number of ethnic 
children, aged between seven and 13, who have been 
practically orphaned and displaced by the situation 
along the border. 

The teachers are low-income border rangers, said 
Thongkhoon. Now, they have to support the children in 
their care. His ministry has tried to provide the 
schools with financial assistance, but the ministry 
itself was having difficulty catering to five million 
Thai children in rural schools where poverty-stricken 
families cannot afford even to provide their lunch. 

Displaced ethnic children are not a phenomenon known 
to these schools alone, Thongkhoon said. They are 
present in almost every border province. In 
Ratchaburi alone, the population of displaced ethnic 
children is about 1,000. The Thai government, of 
course, still has to shoulder all their living 
expenses. 

So far, Thongkhoon said, he has sought the 
cooperation of Rajabhat institutes in border 
provinces to mobilise assistance, in terms of basic 
necessity for the 55 children at the two schools. 

However, he believed government institutions alone 
cannot cope with the increasing number of displaced 
ethnic children along the border. For this reason, he 
appealed for financial support from the private 
sector, individuals and organisations alike. 

Thongkhoon added that his ministry, in fact, has a 
policy to provide non-discriminatory education 
service to children of all backgrounds. Children of 
all racial identities on Thai soil are entitled to 
receive the Education Ministry's services, as the 
ministry aims to serve the world community, not only 
Thailand. 

BY KAMOLTHIP BAI-NGERN 



*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

BANGKOK POST: ALIEN LABOUR CLAMPDOWN A BIG FAILURE

March 1, 2000

Deported Burmese keep flocking back 
The government's policy of deporting illegal foreign workers 
has failed, the deputy labour minister said yesterday.
Jongchai Thiengtham said the policy, aimed at reducing 
unemployment among Thai nationals, failed because the illegal
 aliens, mostly Burmese, were not welcome in their home 
country and the majority of them slipped back into Thailand.


He said the best solution would be to take serious legal
action against those hiring illegal alien workers.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry is seeking help from third
countries to take in foreign labourers deported from 
Thailand.

In Tak, more than 100 Burmese people were arrested
shortly after crossing the Moei river from Myawaddy
in Burma into Mae Sot district yesterday.
Soldiers from the Fourth Infantry Regiment Task Force,
Border Patrol Police and Tak immigration officers 
nabbed a total of 108 Burmese immigrants in raids 
on seven piers in Mae Sot early yesterday morning.
Pol Maj-Gen Chanvut Vajrabukka, deputy commissioner 
of the Immigration Bureau, said the arrested Burmese 
had crossed aboard cargo vessels.

Use of the seven piers in Mae Sot is allowed for 
transporting goods only, and the Thai-Burmese 
Friendship Bridge is the only legal gateway for 
people travelling between Mae Sot and Myawaddy, 
he said.

Yesterday's arrests, which followed Monday's 
raids on six industrial factories in Mae Sot, 
were co-ordinated by Pol Maj-Gen Chanvut and 
Fourth Infantry Regiment Task Force commander 
Col Chainarong Thanaroon.

Pol Maj-Gen Chanvut also consulted with Tak 
governor Nirat Wajanaphum on how best to 
implement the National Security Council's 
policy of preventing Thai people from 
visiting casinos across the border.

Meanwhile, three factory supervisors in 
Tak have been charged with housing alien 
workers and hiring those without work 
permits.

They were identified as Yupaporn Saengthong, 
31, Samlee Hadkam, 36, and Pan Sai-on. Police 
said 98 Burmese workers were employed by 
King Body Concept, 17 by Hang Thai Knitting, 
and 187 by Nam Huad Textile.

Pol Maj-Gen Charnvut said most of the workers 
rounded up have been repatriated. Some have 
been booked for illegal entry and working 
without permits.

In the past five months, some 50,000 Burmese 
workers have been caught and driven back 
across the border.

The Immigration Bureau plans to install an
on-line Automatic Fingerprint Identifying 
System to keep deported foreign criminals 
from re-entering under false names.



*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

THE WEEK MAGAZINE (India): GROUNDED

NSCN leader T. Muivah's imprisonment in Thailand may
split the militant outfit

(From The Week Magazine published in India; March 5, 2000)

By Bertil Lintner/ Bangkok

Stepping out of a Thai International flight at Bangkok 
airport on January 19, Hwan Soo Chung confidently produced 
his South Korean passport. The immigration officer was 
not impressed:  Hwan did not look South Korean.

Security had been tightened at all Thai airports in view 
of the 10th United Nations Conference on Trade and 
Development, and Hwan was pulled aside. The officer wondered 
why on earth any Korean would travel between Karachi and 
Bangkok.

A casual check proved Hwan's passport to be a fake. In no 
time it was established that Hwan was Thuingaleng Muivah, 
general secretary of the National Socialist Council of 
Nagaland (NSCN), which has been fighting India for a 
separate Naga nation. Muivah, 66, claimed he was on his way
to attend an NGO conference in the Netherlands, but that 
did not make any difference.

He was arrested on false passport charges and kept in 
a lock-up for illegal immigrants for about a week until his 
nephew, who lives in Bangkok, raised 200,000 bath 
(Rs. 2,30,000) for bail. Muivah was released and ordered to 
appear in court on February 1. Then, he made
another, far more serious mistake: on January 30, 
he jumped bail and tried to escape to Malaysia via 
the small Hat Yai airport in southern
Thailand, using a false Singaporean passport.

The police caught him again, and a Hat Yai court sentenced 
to a year in prison for attempting to leave the country 
on a false passport. He now has to appear in a Bangkok court 
for jumping bail, which could get him another year in 
jail. Muivah is lodged in Songkhla prison in Hat Yai.

The arrest of Muivah, who had been jet-setting for the 
last 20 years, raises some disturbing questions: what was he 
doing in Pakistan, and why did he have to go via Thailand to 
attend a conference in the Netherlands? The NSCN, officially, 
has a cease-fire agreement with India, and several rounds 
of talks have already been held in Bangkok and
Europe. But Muivah's recent travels show that the 
NSCN may have been using the peace talks to buy time 
to acquire more munitions for its struggle.

When Muivah broke away from the old Naga National Council
in January 1980 to set up the NSCN, his main base was in 
northern Sagaing division across the border in Burma. 
Through an arrangement with the leader of
the Burmese Nagas, S.S. Khaplang, he was able 
to use the remote mountains in northwestern Burma 
- which have never been under any government's control 
- as a staging point for cross-border raids into India. 
Thus he was able to ambush Indian army patrols, assassinate
opponents to his cause, and organize bank robberies in 
Nagaland and Assam.

All that stopped in 1989 when Khaplang and his followers drove 
their Indian cousins out of their sanctuaries in northwestern 
Burma. Many NSCN leaders were killed, but Muivah and the official 
figurehead of the NSCN, Isak Chishi Swu, managed to escape. Deprived 
of their bases in Burma, and nowhere to stay on the Indian side of 
the border, Isak and Muivah left on fake Bangladeshi passport 
for Thailand.

Thailand has been tolerant of any ethnic and political movement 
that did not directly affect its own security. Isak and Muivah 
obtained new passports and forged links with other fundamentalist 
Christians in the Philippines and South Korea.

Muivah also established links with some Thailand-based private 
arms dealers. Several arms shipments were arranged from the 
Cambodian border via the southern Thai port of Ranong to 
Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh, and on to the Naga Hills. In 
1995, in a cross-border operation code-named
"Golden Bird", the armed forces of India and Burma seized a 
major consignment of weapons going along that route.

Three years later, in February 1998, the Indian Navy attacked 
a group of Burmese arms smugglers near Coco Islands in the 
Andamans and seized another consignment of arms. Intelligence 
sources in Bangkok claim the shipment was for the Nagas.

Muivah's and NSCN's official presence in Thailand is confined 
to an NGO called the Asian Indigenous Peoples' Pact, headed by 
Lui Thui, a Thangkul Naga like Muivah. Officially, the organization 
is engaged in "promoting the struggle of indigenous peoples" in the 
region, but in reality it is operating as a front for the NSCN. 
This explains Muivah's attempts to enter Thailand before, possibly, 
proceeding to the Netherlands, the home of a little-known entity 
called the "Unrepresented Nations People's Organization", or the 
UNPO.

The UNPO groups together separatist movements from all over 
the world. The NSCN was able to establish several foreign contacts 
through it, and attend conferences in the Netherlands and 
Estonia (a UNPO member which later became free).

The UNPO may be a rather innocent organization run by west European
activists, but there were obviously far more sinister motives behind
Muivah's journey to Pakistan. It would never have been known, unless
'Hwan Soo Chung' had been arrested. Intelligence sources in Bangkok
claim that Muivah was in the process of working out a major arms 
deal in Pakistan. Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence has for 
decades been active in India's northeast, and its Bangkok station 
has been in touch with the NSCN's local contacts.

But, why would Pakistan be interested in supporting a fundamentalist
Christian Naga movement? In an interview with this correspondent in
March 1992, Paresh Baruah, commander-in-chief of the United Liberation
Front of Assam, admitted that the ISI was fuelling the activities 
of his group. The reason, he said, was that if more trouble erupted 
in Assam and the northeast, Indian army units would have to 
be pulled out of Kashmir, which would suit Pakistan's designs 
there.

It is too early to say whether Pakistan's efforts have been derailed
because of Muivah's arrest and imprisonment. But the incident exposed
Pakistan's activities in the northeast. The NSCN, meanwhile, is left
leaderless and there are already reports of friction between 
hard-liners and moderates in the organization. Without Muivah the 
NSCN may disintegrate or at least split into several factions.

(The writer co-authored the book Land of Jade: Journey Through 
Insurgent Burma.)


*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

THE WEEK MAGAZINE (India): ENTER KHAPLANG

The rival NSCN faction is all set to hold peace talks with the Centre

(From The Week Magazine published in India; March 5, 2000)

The arrest of Thuingaleng Muivah has set the clock back on the peace
process in Nagaland. The Muivah faction of the NSCN is yet to
nominate a successor to its jailed general secretary. The next round
of peace talks, which was to be held in the Hague, the Netherlands,
in February, has been postponed. Muivah had already held talks with
Prime Minister Deve Gowda and A.B. Vajpayee, in Zurich and Paris
respectively.

After Muivah's arrest tension escalated between the NSCN and the army
in Nagaland. The army accused the NSCN of turning the cease-fire
monitoring cell, set up at Dimapur in 1997, into an extension of its
headquarters. The army also alleged that the NSCN was indulging in
extortion, overseeing abduction, running illegal lottery and training
hard-core cadres. The NSCN said it would retaliate if the army
continued spreading canards.

The Centre is sore over Muivah's visit to Karachi and his alleged
links with the ISI and is planning to review the cease-fire. Nagaland
Chief Minister S.C. Jamir has sent a report to the Centre listing
specific cases against Muivah, who is wanted in several murder cases.
"Muivah violated the cease-fire pact when he went to Pakistan to
procure arms," said Jamir, who survived an attempt on his life last
November. He is dead against the cease-fire in its present form and
has been pressing for its review.

Using the opportunity, the NSCN (Khaplang), which has been waging 
a bush war against the Muivah faction, is preparing to hold talks 
with the government. Muivah had so far been keeping it out of 
the talks. Khaplang men said that they would convene their 
"national assembly" to arrive at a consensus on opening 
a formal dialogue with the government. They
wanted the government to abandon its divide and rule policy 
and involve all factions in future discussions. (By Seema 
Hussain)


*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
 OPINION/EDITORIALS
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


CRPP: UNION DAY STATEMENT 


Representatives of the People elected to the Parliament 
in the 1990

Multiparty Democratic Elections

(Committee Representing People's Parliament)

53rd ANNIVERSARY OF UNION DAY STATEMENT 

Notification 6 (2/00) (translation)

Ever since the one party autocratic system dominated the 
Union of Burma, there has been a steady decline in 
politics, society and education in all the 
states and now it has reached the status of least 
developed country in the world. That was why the masses 
rose up in revolt and demanded their democratic rights in 
1988.  But the military held on to state power and 
though a multiparty general elections were held the 
results were not honoured and every endeavour to convene 
parliament has been prevented and disrupted resulting in 
the present circumstances which we are now experiencing. 

In politics, in the economy, in the fields of education, 
social welfare, foreign affairs, turmoil and problems 
continue. These problems did not come about 
accidentally. Unsolved political issues are the root 
cause. Why can't they be solved?  Because the present 
government is deliberately obstructing and sabotaging the 
avenues and denying the people their democratic rights. 

>From a national perspective, to find a solution, the 
present authorities will have to respect the people's 
democratic rights. It means that - when sovereign power 
of the people has been freely transferred it must be 
honoured and adhered to. The 1990 general elections were 
free and fair. It revealed the genuine desire of the 
people. Out of respect for the people wherein 
sovereign power resides a Pyithu Hluttaw must be 
convened. In this Pyithu Hluttaw the issue of unity among 
the nationalities must be discussed and plans for 
solutions must be made. A democratic convention must be 
held with wider participation where views can be 
expressed freely and talks and negotiation can take 
place. Thus, resolutions for unity can be achieved and 
problems of the nationalities will be solved.

But both the State Law and Order Restoration Council 
(SLORC) and the State Peace and Development Council 
(SPDC) have done their utmost to destroy and 
prevent the achieving of solutions for national unity. 
Specially, when they dissolved many political parties 
formed by the different nationalities. However, the 
parties of the nationalities  that received the 
wholehearted support of the people in the 1990 elections, 
continue with their task and are working for genuine 
unity of the country at some future date.  After the 1988 
popular revolt, the different nationalities formed their 
own political parties in their respective regions to 
protect the interest of their nationals and to establish 
a genuine Union in the future. They contested the 
1990 general elections.  The Shan National League for 
Democracy gained 23 seats supported by the majority of 
the Shan people. The Arakan League for Democracy (ALD) 
won11 seats but in the regions where they lost, they 
still had the support of the majority of their nationals. 
The Mon National Democracy Front (MNDF) won 5 seats, the 
Chin National League for Democracy (CNLD) won 3 seats, 
and the Zomi National Congress (ZNC) won 2 seats.  Other 
nationalities also won the support of their nationals in 
the elections and the total seats won by the 
nationalities in the 1990 general elections was 67.

This made the Shan National League for Democracy the 
party with the second largest number of seats and the 
Arakan League for Democracy the third.  This 
shows that these respective parties and elected members 
had genuine support from their respective nationals. In 
finding solutions to ethnic problems, those organisations 
of ethnic races that have stopped their armed struggle 
must combine with the political parties of the 
nationalities. 

But the SLORC and the SPDC only recognize the political 
parties that had the support of their respective 
nationals such as the Shan National League for 
Democracy, Shan Kokang Democratic Party, Wa National 
Development Party,  Myo (a) Khme National Unity Party, 
Union Karen National League.  All other parties were 
dissolved. However, the nationalities parties continued 
to work for their respective nationals and perform the 
national tasks assigned to them. Their goal was to 
establish a genuine Union so they formed a coalition 
of four parties, which contested the election in 1990. 
The seats won were Shan National League for Democracy won 
23, the Arakan League for Democracy 11, Mon National 
Democracy Front 5, Zomi National Congress 2 making a 
total of 41. This coalition of 4 nationalities parties 
and the NLD have been meeting constantly to discuss the 
problems and issues we are currently facing and to work 
out strategies for overcoming them. Exchange of views has 
brought about understanding and we have worked tirelessly 
to bring about the convening of parliament but have met 
with opposition and harassment of every kind. For this 
reason we have not been successful in establishing a 
Pyithu Hluttaw. But we have succeeded in forming a firm 
and durable Committee for Representing the People's 
Parliament (CRPP).  This is the first time after the 
country gained independence that such cooperation has 
been achieved. This not only makes history but it will be 
an example that can be followed in future when occasions 
arise to solve problems between the different national 
races.

We have to plan for the: 

(1)   Emergence of Democracy and

(2)   Resolve the ethnic problems to obtain unity.

(3)   Hold a National Convention when democracy is put in 
place

(4)   Reach agreement on fundamental policies for the 
establishment of a true Union of States. 

But the SLORC/SPDC has dissolved and destroyed political 
parties, arrested and confined leaders of the ethnic 
nationalities and parliamentarians and dislocated and 
ruined every possibility of solving the ethnic issue. On 
the other hand they have plucked out a few 
parliamentarians willing to raise their hands and nod 
their heads to do and say in a systematic pattern 
everything they want said and done. Instead of solutions, 
the sore will fester under the surface.  Though they have 
reached "cease fire" agreements with certain armed ethnic 
rebels no political solutions have been found nor 
is there any attempt or inclination to do so. This keeps 
the situation fluid and a change can occur any time. It 
is said that the "divide and rule" policy of the 
imperialists caused much bitterness between brothers of 
the same group. The policies adopted currently are worse 
than those of the imperialists. 

Political parties representing the nationalities and 
parties like the NLD meet and discuss and cooperate with 
each other. Likewise political parties representing 
nationalities and ethnic national groups who have given 
up armed struggle meet and discuss issues.  In one ethnic 
nationality there exist political parties and those who 
have given up armed struggle.  Because these groups have 
different religious beliefs, driving a wedge between them 
is harmful for a long-term solution to the problem. 
Political parties of the nationalities must be ever wary 
of these harmful tactics to cause dissension. After 
cease-fire agreements there is the issue of opium and 
amphetamines that have far reaching effects and 
repercussions for the entire race and threatens 
all humanity. Other countries are involved.

It is true this problem existed before. After "cease-
fire" agreements this has multiplied to such an extent 
that the entire world is alarmed. This can be found in 
the report of the UN Drugs and Narcotics Committee and 
other international reports. This problem is not a 
problem of one race.  It is a national problem. Applying 
quick-fix methods like substitute crop growing and 
wholesale relocation of poppy cultivators will not solve 
the problem. This is just attacking the problem on the 
surface. Reduction of poppy plantations will not 
automatically reduce the manufacture of drugs. 
Amphetamines are manufactured with chemicals and no opium 
is required. Latest reports reveal that even from 
molasses, a product from the sugar cane, intoxicating 
drugs can be produced.  This is a frightening thought for 
not just one race but for the entire human race.  
Therefore quick-fix remedies will not eradicate the 
drug problem.

The opium producing areas are where the ethnic minorities 
live. Their politics, welfare and prosperity is in one 
way or another connected with the rest of Burma.  This 
eradication of drugs issue cannot be isolated and dealt 
with separately.  We have many ethnic races inhabiting 
the land of Burma. Besides the Kachins, Karens, Kayahs, 
Chins, Mons, Yakhines, Shans, there are others like the 
Pa-os, Palaungs, Wa, Nagas and others all living together 
here.  Politics, education, economic and living standards 
vary. Administration in all these areas is not the same. 
At one time some were kingdoms, some were ruled by chiefs 
like saw-bwas, saw-kes ,du-was, taung-paing and taung-
okes. Only at certain periods, some powerful Burmese 
kings conquered and brought them under their control. 
Apart from those periods, they were self governing 
territories.

All came under the control of the British but in February 
1947 (pre-independence ) General Aung San and the leaders 
of the ethnic minorities reached agreement to join hands 
and free themselves of the British yoke. They agreed also 
to be equal partners with freedom to exercise their own 
rights and establish a Union of states.  That was how the 
Pinlong Agreement came to be executed. These were the 
circumstances under which Burma gained independence in 
January 4, 1948 and the name UNION OF BURMA came about.  
But after the demise of General Aung San, those who 
continued to govern the country deviated from the terms 
of the agreement of General Aung San and the 
ethnic minority leaders. This led to national disunity 
and the ethnic minorities revolted.  To resolve this, a 
conference was held at Taungyi in 1961 attended by all 
the ethnic groups. To achieve genuine union a proposal 
for a federal system was produced. This was used as an 
excuse by the army to seize power.  They refer to it as 
"disintegration of the Union"..  The one party system was 
introduced which took away all the rights of the minority 
races. More and more minority groups resorted to arms and 
the fires of civil war burned with greater velocity.  
Then after the 1988 revolt of the people, political 
parties were permitted to operate and despite the holding 
of the general elections in 1990, the result was 
dishonored the consequences of which are hassles and 
hardships in every field of life- political, economic, 
education, ethnic issues, national issues. These problems 
have not come about on their own.  It is the result of 
this one political issue that has not been solved.  

Trying to solve this nationality issue without touching 
on the fundamental political issue will end in failure.  
These two issues cannot be separated.

The one and only way to solve our present problems is to 
hand over state power to the persons whom the people have 
elected as their representatives. This must be done by 
convening the Pyithu Hluttaw.  This body must give 
priority to the task of unity and nationalism for which 
purpose a National Convention must be held.  A genuine 
Union of the States must be established in accordance 
with the fundamental policies agreed upon at that 
convention. 

Therefore on this the 53rd anniversary of Union Day, we 
entreat all parties and organisations to set aside 
personal and organizational ambitions and focus on the 
current problems from a national perspective by working 
for the triumph of democracy and a settlement of the 
ethnic issues.

Committee Representing People's Parliament

12 February 2000

(Responsibility for this publication is taken by the 
National League for 
Democracy.)




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