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Subject: [theburmanetnews] BurmaNet News: June 20, 2000





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

June 20, 2000

Issue # 1559


The BurmaNet News is viewable online at:
http://theburmanetnews.editthispage.com


NOTED IN PASSING:

(1) "The Government of Japan frankly was not happy with the 
resolution."

Ambassador Haraguchi of Japan criticizing the the International Labor 
Organization for imposing sanctions against Burma over its use of 
forced labor. (See GOVT OF JAPAN: JAPANESE AMBASSADOR TO THE ILO ON 
BURMA FORCED LABOR)

(2) "260,000"

The number, according to the US Department of Labor, of Burmese 
forced laborers used on a dam construction project funded by Japan 
(See PRESS BACKGROUNDER: THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT'S FUNDING OF FORCED 
LABOR IN BURMA)


	
*Inside Burma

SHAN HERALD AGENCY FOR NEWS:  WA EXPANSION TO THE WEST CONFIRMED--
LINK TO SALWEEN DAM SPECULATED

PRESS BACKGROUNDER: A JAPANESE DAM FOR BURMA'S GENERALS: THE TA SANG 
DAM, FORCED LABOR AND THE JAPAN CONNECTION.

PRESS BACKGROUNDER: THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT'S FUNDING OF FORCED LABOR 
IN BURMA

AFP: CONTROVERSIAL MYANMAR TOURISM CONFERENCE OPENS UNDER UNESCO 
BANNER 

AFP: JAPAN GRANTS AID TO MYANMAR RETURNEES FROM BANGLADESH

ABFSU: THE CURRENT  EDUCATION SYSTEM IN BURMA 


*Regional

AFP: MYANMAR'S LEADER RECOVERED, BANGLADESH TRIP STILL IN THE OFFING: 
SOURCE    

AFP: THAILAND TO CLOSE CAMP FOR EXILED MYANMAR STUDENTS BY YEAR END

*International

GOVT OF JAPAN: JAPANESE AMBASSADOR TO THE ILO ON BURMA FORCED LABOR

PRESS BACKGROUNDER: FORCED LABOR: THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT'S EFFORT TO 
PREVENT INTERNATIONAL LABOR ORGANISATION ACTION AGAINST BURMA.

VOICE OF BURMA NEWS: BLOOD DONATION MARKS TOKYO CELEBRATION FOR DAW 
SUU BIRTHDAY 


*Economy/Business

NEW YORK TIMES: TRADE RULING IS VICTORY FOR OIL GIANT 
			
*Opinion/Editorials

USA TODAY: HELP FOR BURMA






__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
	

SHAN HERALD AGENCY FOR NEWS:  WA EXPANSION TO THE WEST CONFIRMED--
LINK TO SALWEEN DAM SPECULATED

June 18, 2000

Both local and opposition sources confirmed the extension of the Wa 
forces into warlord Khun Sa's former area in Mongton today.  

A junior officer from IB 225 told S.H.A.N.'s source that his company 
in Loihtwe was replaced by a 100-strong Wa unit on 15 May (The 
company, commanded by Capt. Myint Thein, is now on rotation in Pang 
Maisoong, opposite Wianghaeng District, Chiangmai).  "We need them 
for security of road construction," the officer said.  

The Wa's entry into the area has raised several speculations from 
several people.  

One told S.H.A.N.: "Just wait and see. A new heroin refinery and a 
horsepill (amphetamine) press will be here soon."  

Another said: "Although Was and the Burmese do not like each other 
much, both are proteges of China. Maybe China has some designs in the 
area". [Was and the SPDC troops fought briefly in Monghsat on 16 May 
which resulted in the killing of 4 Burmese soldiers].   

Yet still another watcher thought it might be linked to the proposed 
Salween Dam project. "The Burmese believes the Was will be able to 
handle both the local populace and Yawdserk's Shan State Army better, 
when the time comes to build the dam. Else they would not have given 
up Loihtwe easily".  

The final survey of the dam site at Tang Palao, north of Tasang in 
Mongton Township, was reported to have been completed on 18 May, over 
one month ahead of the schedule. 
 
Many Shan organizations as well as environmentalists have been 
protesting against its construction.  

____________________________________________________


PRESS BACKGROUNDER: A JAPANESE DAM FOR BURMA'S GENERALS: THE TA SANG 
DAM, FORCED LABOR AND THE JAPAN CONNECTION.

Press backgrounder #3 for a briefing at the Foreign Correspondent's 
Club of Japan by Harn Yawnghwe, Euro-Burma Office and Dr. Thaung 
Htun, NCGUB representative to the United Nations, May 30, 2000. 
***Inset box***

Tasang Dam facts
          
Location of dam: Burma's southern Shan State 80 km north of Thai-
Burma border 
Height of dam:  188 m (tallest in Southeast Asia)

Installed capacity: 3,300 MW (3/4 to be sold to Thailand)

Flood area: Reservoir will flood 230 km back up along the Salween  
River 
Cost of dam: At least US$3 billion

Developer: GMS Power Public Co. Ltd.(Thailand)

Japanese connection: Electric Power Development Corporation (Japan), 
a quasi-governmental corporation is conducting the feasibility 
study.  The only plausible funder is the Japanese treasury, probably 
by way of the Asian Development Bank. 

Status of dam plans: Feasibility Study has been
or is about to be completed (= Step 4 in the 5-
step dam planning process).

Abuses already occurring: Forced labor and forced relocations.  A 
number of Burmese army battalions have moved into the area to provide 
protection for Japanese workers for EPDC. 
***

The Salween River, the only major free flowing river remaining in 
Southeast Asia, flows down from the Himalayas in China into Burma and 
then forms a natural border between Thailand and Burma. 

Now, with financing from Japan, Burma is planning to dam the Salween 
to export electricity to Thailand.  Although only in the planning 
stage, the project is already causing massive human rights abuses in 
Burma's Shan State.

The dam, to be located at Ta Sang in southern Burma's Shan State is 
80 kilometers from  the Thai border. At 188 meters high, the dam will 
be the tallest in Southeast Asia, creating a  reservoir 230 
kilometers long, flooding an area of at least 640 sq.  km, storing 
approximately one-third of the Salween's average annual  flow. The 
cost of building the dam will be at least US $3 billion.

In the last four years, Burmese troops have intensified their 
military operations in the Shan State, resulting in the forced 
relocation  of more than 300,000 people.  In 1999, troops from four 
Burmese army battalions took up positions to guard workers from the 
Japan's Electric Power Development Corporation (EPDC), a quasi-
governmental company.  Human rights reports from the area indicate 
those battalions are using forced labor and committing other abuses.



Forced Labor

According to the 1998 International Labor Organization (ILO) finding 
on forced labor in Burma, rendered by a quasi-judicial proceeding, 
there is abundant evidence that the SPDC  military pervasively uses 
forced civilian labor for the construction and maintenance of 
military camps and other infrastructure. A 1998 Human Rights Watch 
Burma Report states that the use of forced labor has not abated but 
appears to have increased with the collapse of the economy. 

Forced labor involving thousands of workers has been used on previous 
major dam projects, including the Nam Wok dam in Shan state completed 
in 1994. There are compelling reasons to believe that the Ta Sang dam 
development will also involve the SPDC's use of forced labor, such as:

In the January 1999 report submitted to the UN Commission on Human  
Rights, Special Rapporteur, Mr. Rajsoomer Lallah, received reports of 
villagers from Murng Pan, Larng Khur, Murng Ton and Nam Zarng being 
forced to work by the SPDC army for periods of up to two weeks 
splitting rocks near the Salween River crossing of Ta Sang. 
SPDC's widespread practice of using forced labor for construction of 
infrastructure projects is well documented and publicized. The Yadana 
gas pipeline project brought worldwide attention to such inhumane 
practices.



Forced relocation

Human Rights Watch reports an intensification of civilian forced 
relocation and the subsequent human rights abuses inflicted by the 
SPDC military from 1996 to 1999, especially in the Shan State.   
Forced labor, forced portering, forced relocation and extrajudicial 
killings have in the last four years dramatically increased 
throughout the Shan State of northern Burma. 
Forced displacement is occurring in precisely the same areas that  
dam site surveyors began feasibility studies on the proposed dam  
site. From 1997, the SPDC military extended its relocation program in 
Shan state to include both sides on the Salween river, as well as the 
Nam Parng tributary upstream from the planned dam, and including 
Murng Pan township, which forms the western side of the Ta Sang dam 
site.

Already, there are more refugees from Burma than there are people in 
Kosovo.  Aid groups estimate that more than 500,000 are internally 
displaced within Burma.  Upwards of 100,000 more are in camps along 
the Thai Burma border and Thailand estimates that at least another 
500,000 are in Thailand outside the camps. The largest group of 
refugees are Shan.  If the dam is to proceed, the number of Shan 
seeking refuge in Thailand in order to escape SPDC's forced 
relocation program and its subsequent human rights abuses will 
increase substantially. 


The Japanese connection:--Japan's Electric Power Development Co.'s 
work on the Ta Sang dam

Japan's Electric Power Development Co., Ltd. (EPDC) has been hired to 
conduct feasibility studies on the Tasang project  for the Government 
of Burma.  EPDC is a quasi-governmental company, controlled by the 
Japanese government. 1(Footnote 2 EPDC's ten shareholders are the 
Ministry of Finance, with 66% and nine electric power utilities, 
collectively owing 33.3%.  Japan's Cabinet has slated EDPC to be 
privatized by 2002.  See http://www.epdc.co.jp/english/index.htm)  On 
International project, EPDC typically provides feasibility studies 
and arranges project financing. 

The Salween river area of the Shan State is a war zone.   Since mid-
1999, the Burma Army has been fortifying positions along the Salween 
River near the dam to protect the companies - including EPDC--have 
been carrying out feasibility and survey work. Units from 4 Infantry 
Battalions, 330, 332, 518 and 520, numbering 400-500 troops took up 
positions on both sides of the river at Tasang. (Source, SHAN HERALD 
AGENCY FOR NEWS: JUNTA FORTIFYING THE SALWEEN DAM SITE 4 October, 
1999).  Refugees arriving in Thailand are reporting abuses by the 
troops from these battalions.

The use of a Japanese quasi-governmental company to carry out the 
feasibility studies hints at what will likely be the most significant 
Japanese connection funding.  At US $3 billion, the project dwarfs 
Burma's ability to pay.  Thailand, still recovering from the Asian 
financial crisis, is also in no position to pay for such a risky 
project.  Western governments are intensely opposed to funding any 
projects that benefit the military regime until it begins a 
transition to democracy.  The World Bank's own regulations prohibit 
it from involvement.  Nor is the private sector likely to pick up the 
tab.  The Thai developer, GMS Inc., is by any reasonable accounting 
standard bankrupt and was delisted from the Thai stock exchange.  
Which leaves the Japanese treasury, probably by way of the Asian 
Development Bank. 

The Japanese government has been secretive about its involvement in 
Tasang but it has recently announced a resumption of aid to Burma for 
small and medium sized companies.  Japan also recently funded, under 
the guise of humanitarian aid, an extension of the runway at 
Rangoon's airport to boost the tourism industry by allowing larger 
jets to land. 

For more information

Electric Power Development Co., Ltd. (EPDC)
6-15-1 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061, Japan
Phone: 03-3546-9385
Fax: 03-3544-1819 
http://www.epdc.co.jp/

For more information on the massive forced relocation, forced 
portering, forced labor and other abuses in the Salween area, see:

A Dam for Burma's Generals, a report by Terra, a Thai environmental 
NGO http://www.mhoneshweyee.com/mar00/032500a.html

The Burma Army's Salween River offensive
http://metalab.unc.edu/freeburma/humanrights/khrg/archive/khrg95/khrg9
512.html 
"Killing the Shan", a report by the Karen Human Rights Group 
http ://metalab.unc.edu/freeburma/humanrights/khrg/archive/khrg98/khrg
9803.html 

For information updates, please contact Salween Watch.  Salween Watch 
is an NGO that monitors the dam project and publishes a periodic 
newsletter.  They can be reached by email at salweenwatch@xxxxxxxxxxx

____________________________________________________


PRESS BACKGROUNDER: THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT'S FUNDING OF FORCED LABOR 
IN BURMA

Press backgrounder #2 for a briefing at the Foreign
Correspondent's Club of Japan by Harn Yawnghwe, Euro-
Burma Office and Dr. Thaung Htun, NCGUB representative to
the United Nations, May 30, 2000.

The Tasang Dam on the Salween River in Burma is not the first project 
since the Second Wold War sponsored by the Japanese government to 
cause forced labor in Burma. The US Department of Labor has 
identified the South Nawin Dam, built by the Burmese regime with 
planning and engineering paid for by the Government of Japan, as 
having used some 260,000 forced laborers during the mid 90s (See US 
Department of Labor Report on Labor Practices in Burma, Sept. 1998, 
Appendix III,  INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS USING UNPAID LABOR: 1988-
1996.   Available on the Internet at:
http://www.dol.gov/dol/ilab/public/media/reports/ofr/burma/main.htm#AP
3). 

The South Nawin Dam, funded by loans from the Japan Bank for 
International Cooperation and
Development. In an article in Burma's state press in 1995, referring 
to the hundreds of thousands who "contributed voluntary labor" for 
the dam, the regime wrote:

 "Speaking of a brief history of the dam, he said OECD of Japan 
conducted survey for drafting the Project for Allround Development of 
the Upper Sector of Ayeyawady Delta Region from 1977 to 1979 and the 
feasibility report was submitted in 1980.  Based on the report, 
consultant of Sanyu Group were hired for drawing design beginning 
April 1983...Ambassador of Japan to Myanmar Mr Takashi Tajima 
expressed pleasure at the completion of the dam
for which OECF of Japan loaned yen 8,150 million" (See  "Newly 
inaugurated South Nawin Dam to supply water to 62,600 acres and to 
irrigate 98,100 acres of crops in three townships," The New Light of 
Myanmar, April 29, 1995.)




____________________________________________________



AFP: CONTROVERSIAL MYANMAR TOURISM CONFERENCE OPENS UNDER UNESCO 
BANNER 

YANGON, June 20 (AFP) - A conference on tourism in Myanmar, 
coordinated by UNESCO and criticised by human rights groups who 
support the opposition's policy of discouraging foreign visitors, 
opened here Tuesday.    Officials of the Paris-based UN Educational, 
Scientific and Cultural Organisation were not available to comment on 
the angry reaction from rights groups over its involvement in the 
event which aims to boost tourism here.    But delegates from the 
private sector, who made up most of the 200-strong gathering, were 
defiant.

   "They should leave us alone and let us get on with our business," 
one hotelier told AFP when asked about the objections.

   The conference, organised in cooperation with UNESCO, is 
entitled "Safeguarding cultural heritage and the role of the tourism 
industry in Myanmar."

   "The main objective of the seminar is to seek further ways and 
means to safeguard Myanmar's rich cultural heritage and promote 
cultural tourism," an organising official said.

   Despite its natural beauty and stunning cultural relics, the 
tourism industry in Myanmar is in a poorly condition, with just 
120,000 foreign visitors arriving in 1999.

   The "Visit Myanmar" campaign of 1996-97 was an abject failure and 
the situation worsened in mid-1997 when the Asian financial crisis 
hit.    The five-star hotels built by developers from Singapore, 
Malaysia and Japan remain virtually empty as the tourism boom they 
were supposed to cater for failed to eventuate.

   "We've even had to retrench a lot of the local recruits to make 
ends meet," said the hotelier, who declined to give his name. 
However, he said the industry was hopeful of a turnaround "pretty 
soon".

   A tourism ministry official, while admitting arrival numbers in 
2000 were expected to slip from last year, also said an uptick was 
expected.    "The situation is getting better and we are hoping for 
bigger numbers in the near future," he said.

   One reason for their optimism is the official announcement earlier 
this month of the formation of a 35-member tourism promotion board in 
which the private sector has been given a free hand.

   The Myanmar Tourism Promotion Board, made up of ministry officials 
and stakeholders from the hospitality and travel industries, is to 
advise the junta on how to remove the red tape that is hampering 
tourism promotion.    Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is 
staunchly opposed to the development of the tourism industry, 
although elements within her National League for Democracy disagree 
with her stand.

   Rights groups last week slammed UNESCO for helping the military 
government in Yangon to attract foreign tourists, despite the 
democracy movement's plea for visitors to stay away.

   "It's outrageous for a UN agency to be assisting Burma's military 
regime in promoting tourism to the country at this time," said Burma 
Campaign UK director Yvette Mahon.

   "Because of the scale of human rights abuse linked to tourism and 
the financial benefit to the regime, the high cost of tourism for the 
vast majority of ordinary Burmese dramatically outweighs any 
benefits," she said from London.

   Culture Minister Win Sein and Tourism Minister Major General Saw 
Lwin addressed the opening ceremony Tuesday, wishing participants 
success in their discussions.

   After Tuesday's session, the delegates are to head on to Mandalay 
and the ancient city of Bagan.   UNESCO, with financial and technical 
aid from Japan and France, has been involved with preservation work 
in Bagan for decades.



____________________________________________________


AFP: JAPAN GRANTS AID TO MYANMAR RETURNEES FROM BANGLADESH

 YANGON, June 20 (AFP)  The Japanese embassy here announced Tuesday a 
grant to assist Muslim refugees repatriated to Myanmar from 
Bangladesh, some of the 230,000 who have returned after fleeing 
across the border a decade ago. 

Japan gave aid organization CARE Myanmar 30,595 dollars to help the 
Rohingya Muslim refugees support themselves by establishing market 
gardens, the embassy said in a statement. 
Relations between Myanmar and Bangladesh became strained by the 
influx in 1991 and 1992 of 250,000 people from northern Rakhine 
state, who claimed the ruling junta had committed 
atrocities against them. 

Ties have improved since then, with the repatriation of most of the 
refugees under a United Nations agreement, but more than 20,000 are 
still living in Bangladeshi camps. 
UN agencies and non-government organizations have been helping the 
returnees resettle in Myanmar. 

The Japanese grant, part of a grass roots assistance scheme, is to be 
used by CARE to provide seeds to 2,500 households so they can grow 
and market fruit and vegetables. 
Japan suspended all but a small amount of humanitarian aid to Myanmar 
in the aftermath of the 1988 military takeover, but agreed in 
February last year to help finance reconstruction of Yangon airport. 

Myanmar's opposition, led by Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has 
targeted Japan this year on suspicion Tokyo is preparing o resume 
commercial links. 

Japan has stated its wiliness to increase its supply of humanitarian 
aid if the military government embraces reform. 

Former Japanese prime minister Ryutaro Hashimoto last year held talks 
with Myanmar's generals during a `private' mission to ascertain the 
country's economic needs. 



____________________________________________________



ABFSU: THE CURRENT  EDUCATION SYSTEM IN BURMA 


Foreign Affairs' Committee
All Burma Federation of Student Unions
The Current  Education System in Burma 
Education Report
(June 2000)


A. Summery of the report
 
The military regime in Burma, currently known as the SPDC, has 
perpetually neglected civilian education in the country, especially 
since the national uprisings of 1988, and the resulting political 
deadlock.  The education system, along with other socially vital 
institutions, and the country as a whole, is incessantly declining. 
It is clear that the military juntas priorities are to keep the army 
strong, despite the fact that the country has no external enemies. 
Over 40% of the national budget is spent on the military force, while 
only a mere 7.7% of the allotted education budget is used to promote 
education. The country's economy is rapidly collapsing, and common 
people across the nation are struggling to survive, yet teacher 
salaries remain low and the cost of education is high and rising.  
Beginning from the lowest level of primary school through to the 
institutions of higher learning, only those with enough money are 
able to receive their education.  9.5 million of Burma's children are 
unable to even begin their basic education, and of those that do 
start primary school, only 37% are able to go on to the middle school 
level. The illiteracy rate in Burma in the 1990's was 23%, but that 
number is quickly increasing as more and more people are unable to 
get even a basic education. Beyond the economic strain imposed by the 
juntas rule, the people also must bear the burden of numerous army 
abuses. Forced labor, constant extortion from government officials, 
and the war waged against the ethnic minority groups which has killed 
many and displaced hundreds of thousands from their homes are all 
factors that make it virtually impossible to attend school.  

For those that are able to attend school, the quality of the 
education is insufficient, and military mentality is encouraged. All 
schools, at all levels use outdated textbooks that were introduced in 
the 1960's to promote the socialist military ideology.  School 
materials and equipment are insufficiently supplied and also 
outdated. School textbooks, like all other forms of literature and 
expression in Burma, are strictly censored by the junta. Teachers 
receive military training, and are ordered to make sure that their 
students do not engage in any anti-military activity. Quality 
education has been lost as the requirements for passing grades has 
been reduced. A new exam system significantly lessened the need to 
study in order to pass in primary, middle and high school levels, and 
cheat sheets are widely available for sale at the time of exams, a 
fact which is known by the junta, but ignored.  Instead, students who 
join the juntas Union Solidarity and Development Association, and who 
participate in their teachers tutoring classes outside of school are 
favored to pass.  Bribes and corruption are often a reality for 
students who wish to pass with good grades.  

After students pass 10th standard, they face even more difficulties.  
Post-high school education has been increasingly problematic and 
unstable since the student-incited national uprisings of 1988.  The 
military junta responded to these demonstrations by arresting the 
student leaders and indefinitely closing all schools of higher 
learning in Burma.  Since that time, colleges and universities in 
Burma have been incredibly unreliable. The schools have closed and 
opened sporadically, and the system repeatedly changed. From 1988 to 
the present, civilian universities and colleges in Burma have been 
open a mere 40 months. Since student demonstrations of 1996, they 
haven't been open at all.  The quality of education has also been 
sacrificed as course content was simply cut out to allow for the 
shortened terms when schools were in session, and corruption is 
commonplace at the university level for passing grades. As a result 
of the unavailability of civilian university education, students have 
been forced to enroll in military institutes, the University of 
Distant Education (UDE), and the more recently opened institutes of 
technology.  However, the education through these institutions is not 
sufficient. The UDE programs sorely lack in opportunity for students 
to actively learn. Also, when the technical universities were 
recently re-opened, the system was changed so that students in 2nd 
and 3rd year must attend new technical Colleges that are placed in 
locations far from the main cities and university campuses, which 
makes life very difficult for them.  

The institutions available to Burmese students are not only 
insufficient, they are also unaffordable for most.   The current 
system ensures that the children of the military officials and their 
circle with money are able to receive an education, and is used by 
the junta to prove to the international community that they are 
progressing in their nation's education system. The governments 
attempts at improving the education system have proven to be 
ineffective, as the programs they have introduced in actuality do not 
benefit the students. The government has neglected to provide the 
essentials of modern textbooks and school equipment, and has more 
significantly failed to bring about the necessary changes in the 
political and social conditions of Burma that would allow for true 
educational improvement.           

Education is based on past events, analyses the present events, and 
looks to the future. According to this motto, every country can see 
the results of their education system after 14 or 15 years. The 
Burmese military regime has repeatedly changed academic protocol in 
the national education system, yet there have been no positive 
results. Although Japan suffered as a nation from atomic bombs, they 
were able to re-emerge as a fresh and modernized nation within a few 
years. Japan fully invested in the education of its people, and 
therefore should be a model nation for education.  Education is inter-
related with every social, economic, political, and traditional 
aspect of a civilization and its history and cannot be divided from 
these.  Burma has suffered from civil wars and oppression by the 
military dictatorship throughout its history and its students haven't 
had a chance to receive a modern education. Burma's education system 
is seriously damaged and the future for the students and the country 
is terrifying. 








___________________________ REGIONAL ___________________________



AFP: MYANMAR'S LEADER RECOVERED, BANGLADESH TRIP STILL IN THE OFFING: 
SOURCE    

   YANGON, June 20 (AFP) - Myanmar's supreme leader Senior General 
Than Shwe  has recovered from the illness which forced him to 
postpone his first trip to  Bangladesh and the visit is to be 
rescheduled, informed sources said Tuesday.    A source close to Than 
Shwe said the general was back in the public  limelight and had been 
seen greeting foreign dignitaries on their arrival in  Yangon.

   He appeared a little pale but otherwise well and keen to make the 
trip to  Bangladesh -- a rare foreign visit for the leader of the 
military junta -- the source said.

   Than Shwe, who is military commander in chief, prime minister and 
defence  minister, had been believed to be suffering from a blood-
pressure problem that worsened after he made a strenuous tour of 
Myanmar in April.    But some reports had speculated that the 
cancellation was not only due to  illness, and that the general was 
losing his enthusiasm for the job and was  planning to retire.

   If the Bangladesh visit goes ahead, Than Shwe would be the first 
top  Myanmar leader to visit since it won independence from Pakistan 
in 1971.  Myanmar was among the first countries to recognise the new 
state.    During the trip, which was to have begun on May 29, the two 
sides had  planned to discuss the demarcation of a sea boundary, road 
and shipping links, expanding trade and combating armed groups 
operating on their common border.

   Relations between the two neighbours became strained in the early 
1990s  when some 250,000 Rohingya Muslims flooded into Bangladesh 
from Myanmar,  claiming atrocities committed against them by the 
junta.

   Ties have improved since then, with the repatriation of most of 
the  refugees under a United Nations agreement, but more than 20,000 
are still  living in Bangladeshi camps.

   The Japanese embassy in Yangon Tuesday announced a 30,595 dollar 
grant to  aid organisation CARE Myanmar which will be used to support 
newly returned  refugees.




____________________________________________________


AFP: THAILAND TO CLOSE CAMP FOR EXILED MYANMAR STUDENTS BY YEAR 
END    

   BANGKOK, June 20 (AFP) - Thailand said Tuesday that it hoped to 
close down  a camp for exiled Myanmar students by the end of the 
year, as it continued a  crackdown prompted by violent attacks by 
Myanmar rebels.

   "We expect to close the Maneeloy camp by the end of this year," 
said  Khachadpai Burusapatana, the chief of the National Security 
Council which  deals with refugee issues.

   More than 120,000 Myanmar refugees live in Thai camps, after 
fleeing  fighting and persecution in their homeland where the 
military junta is  battling insurgent groups.

   Most of the exiles in the tense Maneeloy holding centre, located 
just 116  kilometers (72 miles) from the Thai-Myanmar border, fled 
here after a bloody  1988 military crackdown on Myanmar pro-democracy 
demonstrators.    Thailand said earlier this year that it wanted to 
resettle the 1,800  students at Maneeloy, fearing the camp could be 
used as a base for rebel  activity.

   The authorities became alarmed after armed rebels opposed to the 
Myanmar  junta last year laid siege to Yangon's embassy in 
Bangkok.    The presence of the camp again became a concern in 
January when rebel  gunmen seized a hospital in the border province 
of Ratchburi province less  than 50 kilometres (31 miles) from 
Maneeloy.

   The crisis ended when Thai special forces stormed the hospital, 
freed the  hundreds who had been taken hostage, and killed all 10 
rebels.    Two of the gunmen were believed to be former Maneeloy 
residents,  reinforcing Thailand's determination to no longer play 
host to the students.    However, human rights groups have denounced 
the tough treatment meted out  to refugees in the wake of the rebel 
violence and said the exiles were being  used as scapegoats.

   The US-based Human Rights Watch has said that although the embassy 
and  hospital sieges were the work of small, radical organizations, 
the Thai  government has used them to justify a wider crackdown.

   After living in limbo for more than a decade, most of the exiles 
are just  keen to be resettled in another country so they can finally 
return to their  studies and get on with their lives.

   Khachadpai said that so far 347 exiled students had left Maneeloy 
and  resettled in third countries, mostly the United States, Canada 
and Australia.    Another 479 were due to leave next month, and those 
remaining were being  screened by the United Nations High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).    "The UNHCR is keeping us 
informed on the progress of resettlement... the  rest of them are 
undergoing an interviewing process," he said.

__________________ INTERNATIONAL __________________
		


GOVT OF JAPAN: JAPANESE AMBASSADOR TO THE ILO ON BURMA FORCED LABOR

JUNE 14 

The full report of the debate is on the following link
(scroll down to 4th report of the Selection Committee)

http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/ilc/ilc88/com-
seld.htm 

Mr. HARAGUCHI (Government delegate, Japan) ù Thank you for 
recognizing me  all the way up here on the second floor. The ILO has 
a history of valiant efforts and outstanding achievements  towards 
the improvement of conditions and standards of work throughout the 
world, and many of us present here have directly or  indirectly 
benefited from those efforts. The issue before us now is a situation 
of forced labour in Myanmar. A resolution has  been adopted 
threatening to gradually drive that country into isolation, while 
aiming at the elimination of forced labour in  that country. The 
Government of Japan voted against this resolution. We did so not 
because we think the problem of forced  labour does not exist in 
Myanmar. On the contrary, it is exactly because we recognize the 
graveness of the problem and because we  concluded that the best way 
to redress the situation would be to strongly encourage the present 
administration of  Myanmar to ensure that there should be no forced 
labour in that country through a process of dialogue and assistance 
on the spot,  rather than through drastic punitive measures. After a 
process of five years, Myanmar has finally begun to show its 
willingness to  cooperate with the ILO. This was brought about by the 
efforts of the Members, as well as the Office, and we should well  
appreciate and take into account the significance of these changes.

The Government of Japan frankly was not happy with the resolution, 
but now  that it has been adopted we wish to read optimism in its 
language.

Let us hope, and call upon the Government of Myanmar to maintain its  
dialogue and working relationships with the ILO. In this context, I 
would particularly like to draw the attention of our colleagues  from 
Myanmar to the fact that, in recognition of its positive response to 
the mission sent by the ILO, the deadline is set, not  for today, but 
for the end of November, that is to say, a new window of opportunity 
has been opened for Myanmar. This window of  opportunity has been 
opened because of the perception, not only on the part of Government 
delegates, but also of the  Workers and the Employers, that however 
subtle the change in Myanmar's stance may be, it is worth taking it 
seriously. Had the  Government of Myanmar not accepted the technical 
mission, this extension would not have been offered: Myanmar has  
earned it.

I would strongly urge the Office to assist the Government of Myanmar, 
by  the means mandated to it, including the dispatch of more 
technical cooperation missions, in order to support and facilitate 
the  process of transition in Myanmar towards the elimination of 
forced labour. I sincerely advise the Government of Myanmar  not to 
take such offence from this resolution as to cast away the positive 
elements contained in it, but rather to make the  most of them and 
take the necessary steps before November, along the lines already 
clearly expressed in the letter from the  Labour Minister, thereby 
proving its seriousness and sincerity in its commitment. In so doing, 
by honouring its promise, Myanmar  will be able to gain renewed 
standing and recognition in the ILO and the international community 
as a whole. In this  regard, the Japanese Government will stand ready 
to facilitate further dialogue between Myanmar and the ILO, by 
providing good  offices and any assistance that may be called for, 
for the sake of resolving the issue.



____________________________________________________



PRESS BACKGROUNDER: FORCED LABOR: THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT'S EFFORT TO 
PREVENT INTERNATIONAL LABOR ORGANISATION ACTION AGAINST BURMA.

Press backgrounder #1 for a briefing at the Foreign Correspondent's 
Club of Japan by Harn Yawnghwe, Euro-Burma Office and Dr. Thaung 
Htun, NCGUB representative to the United Nations, May 30, 2000.


On May 23, Agence France Presse reported that Japanese Foreign 
Minister Yohei Kono urged that Myanmar not be sanctioned by the 
International Labor Organization for its use of forced labor if it 
maintained 'dialogue'with the ILO.1 (Afp: Japan Urges Myanmar to 
Maintain Dialogue over Labour Issue, May 23, 2000.)  Kono was quoted 
as saying that on the issue of forced labor in Burma, "Asia's 
position is slightly different from that of the United States and 
Europe."

The Japanese government should stop supporting Burma's attempt to use 
empty dialogue to forestall long overdue sanctions for Burma's forced 
labor.  It should also stop funding the projects in Burma that are 
directly causing wide scale forced labor and forced relocation.

At the ILO's planned meeting in Geneva in June, the 174 member states 
will vote on whether to impose unprecedented sanctions against Burma 
for its widespread use of forced labor, which Burma's regime 
continues to deny.  Kono said Tokyo was ready to back Myanmar if it 
continues talks with the ILO.  

After an extraordinary quasi-judicial commission of enquiry, the ILO 
issued a finding in August 1999 that the regime in Burma practiced 
forced  labor in a "systematic manner with a total disregard for the 
human dignity, safety and health" of the people.  Studies done by the 
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and the US 
Department of Labor put the number of people subjected to different 
forms of forced labor on any given day in Burma at more than 800,000.

In March 2000, the International Labor Organization's governing body 
invoked, for the first time in its history, an ILO article allowing 
it to recommend measures to oblige the offending party to comply by 
eradicating forced labor and rigorously prosecuting and punishing 
those found guilty of exacting forced labor. 

The finding issued by the commission of enquiry in effect, convicted 
Burma's regime of using forced labor.  The ILO Director-General's 
mandate is not to engage in a dialogue with the regime over whether 
or not forced labor exists in Burma. Nor should Japan pressure the 
ILO governing body to engage in such a sterile exercise.  Successive 
military regimes have stonewalled, denied and delayed over ending 
forced labor for decades.  Every day, some 800,000 people are forced 
to labor by the regime in Burma.  If the Japanese government 
successfully intervenes to stall the ILO's enforcement action, it 
will bear responsibility for their suffering.   
It would be inappropriate for any nation to intervene to protect the 
perpetrators of forced labor rather than the victims.  But given 
Japan's unfortunate history regarding forced labor in Burma, both 
during the Second World War and even in recent years 
Foreign Minister Kono's intervention on this, of all issues, is 
extraordinarily unseemly. 

For more information, see:

ILO Press Release explaining the 
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inf/pr/2000/9.htm 
ILO: Report of the Commission of Inquiry appointed under Article 26 
of the Constitution of the International Labor Organization to 
examine the observance by Myanmar of the Forced Labor Convention, 
1930 (No. 29), Geneva, July 2, 1998  
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/gb/docs/gb273/myanmar
 .htm 
Amnesty International, Myanmar: Time to End Forced Labor
http






____________________________________________________



VOICE OF BURMA NEWS: BLOOD DONATION MARKS TOKYO CELEBRATION FOR DAW 
SUU BIRTHDAY 

 Tokyo - June 18, 2000

Blood donation ceremony by BYVA on Daw Aung Sann Suu Kyi's Birthday, 
and Burmese Women's Day Celebration by BWU(Tokyo) in Tokyo.

TOKYO June 18,Voice of Burma - Support groups of Aung San Suu Kyi, 
who turns 55 on Monday, celebrated their leader's birthday Sunday by 
donating blood in the morning and holding a Burmese Women's Day 
ceremony in the evening.

The blood donation ceremony, a yearly event by the Burma Youth 
Volunteer Association ( Japan) to commemorate Burma's democracy 
champion and Nobel Laureate Aung San Su Kyi, was held at Ikebukuro, a 
busy shopping district in Tokyo and drew donors from different 
dissidents groups and non-group individuals.

The Burmese Women's Union (Tokyo) held a Burmese Women's Day in 
nearby Otsuka in the evening. Cho Cho Aye, president of the Tokyo 
chapter of BWU said efforts should be made to help displaced mothers 
from Burma educate their children. Many schools and places of higher 
education remain closed in Burma. Offsprings of high ranking junta 
officials and their cronies and a few rich people go abroad to study, 
while children of ordinary people and especially the displaced are 
partially or totally deprived of health and education welfare.

Speakers at the meet included Toe Naing of the Burmese Association in 
Japan, Tin Kyi of the BYVA, Mg Mg Hla Kyaing of the NLD-LA (Japan), 
Than Htut of Students Organization Liberalization of Burma (SOLB); 
Mr. Wada Muneharu, Japanese Member of Tkyo Metropolitan Government 
Council; Yayoi Matsui, NGO for gender equality among others. A 
message from Dr Cynthia of the Mae Taw Clinic in Mae Sot was read 
aloud for the participants by Soe Soe Myaing.

Speakers reconfirmed their support for and commitment to Burma's 
democracy movement while not forgetting the suffering and role of 
women together with their children in the struggle.

Mr Wada said he can not understand why the Japanese government is 
planning or starting to help the junta and not wait till state power 
is returned to a civilian government.




_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________
 

NEW YORK TIMES: TRADE RULING IS VICTORY FOR OIL GIANT 

June 20, 2000
A CORPORATE ACTOR
Trade Ruling Is Victory for Oil Giant
By JAMES RISEN

WASHINGTON, June 19. For years, Unocal, the California-based oil 
company,  has been courting criticism by doing buisness in Myanmar in 
the face of  sanctions imposed by the military leadership there by 
the Clinton  administration and a growing list of state and local 
governments. 
So while Unocal was not mentioned in today's Supreme Court decision 
that  struck down a Massachusetts law that prohibited companies doing 
business in  Myanmar from receiving state government contracts, the 
ruling was a  significant victory for the oil giant.

The Myanmar government has been accused of drug trafficking and of 
numerous  labor and human rights abuses.

It has been the subject of an intense campaign by human rights 
advocates  who have sought to force reforms on the country by putting 
pressure on  Western corporations doing business there.

Unocal, which holds a 28 percent interest in a natural gas production 
and  pipeline project in Myanmar, is the largest American investor in 
the  country, and has faced lawsuits and protests from human rights 
advocates  and student groups demanding its withdrawal from the 
project. 

But the company has refused to bow to the criticism.

In fact, Unocal announced a deal with the Myanmar government to 
expand its  rights to explore and develop gas fields off the nation's 
coast on the same  day in 1997 that the State Department issued a 
report condemning the  killing and torture of dissidents and ethnic 
minorities in the country. 
The Clinton administration has imposed sanctions on Myanmar, formerly 
known  as Burma, banning all new investment.

Unocal's natural gas project was grandfathered in under the federal  
sanctions, but the company is prohibited from expanding its 
investments there. 
Human right advocates had also persuaded a number of local 
governments,  including the State of Massachusetts, to pass laws 
prohibiting contracts  with companies that do business in Myanmar.

Unocal was in the background of the suit that made its way to the 
Supreme  Court.

The case was brought against Massachusetts by a Washington lobbying 
group  called the National Foreign Trade Council. Unocal is one of 
the group's 550  members, and is represented on the group's 70-member 
board. 
A spokesman for the trade council said the lawsuit was intended to 
attack a  broader problem than simply the protests against Unocal in 
Myanmar. 
The group initiated the suit to combat the growing trend among state 
and  local governments seeking to influence United States foreign 
policy through  local sanctions.

Myanmar just happened to be the best test case because a state, in 
addition  to cities and towns, had imposed sanctions against it, said 
Daniel  O'Flaherty, vice president of the foreign trade council. He 
said that about  a half-dozen countries are facing similar locally 
generated sanctions.  He acknowledged that Myanmar has "an unlovely 
government" that added to the  public relations problems of the suit.

"Did we think about the P.R. aspects of choosing Burma? -- of 
course," Mr.  O'Flaherty said. "But we were testing the principle of 
the latitude of  subfederal units" to influence foreign policy.

"The lawsuit was not about Burma," he said. "It was not a crusade on 
behalf  of Unocal."

_________________OPINION/EDITORIALS________________


USA TODAY: HELP FOR BURMA

USA Today
June 20, 2000
Help for Burma

When Massachusetts legislators passed a 1996 law restricting the 
state from  purchasing the goods of firms that do business with 
Burma, they hoped to  use economic pressure to harm that country's 
military regime. 
Burma's authoritarians hold power despite the fact that they were 
voted out  in elections in 1990. They imprison hundreds of political 
enemies,  perpetuate poverty and show no sign of joining Asia's 
democratizing wave. 
Given Burma's record, Massachusetts' goal was noble. What's more, 
its  economic pressure was modest but effective, judging from the 
anger it  stirred in companies that brought the legal challenge. But 
now that an  unsurprising Supreme Court ruling Monday has reasserted 
that only the  federal government can set foreign policy, other means 
of pressuring Burma  are needed.

American activists' experience with helping end apartheid in South 
Africa  in the 1980s suggests it is possible to act locally to move 
an entire  government. But only if private individuals take the lead. 
It was committed activists such as the Rev. Leon Sullivan who 
stirred  public opposition to the regime, pressured companies to 
divest from South  Africa and led the USA to move first to impose 
economic sanctions against  the country in August 1985. By September, 
11 other Western nations followed.  A year later, Nelson Mandela 
began negotiating an end to apartheid from  jail and was then 
released. Apartheid fell soon after.

Setting such dominos in motion would be challenging today. The 
Supreme  Court ruling not only blocks action by cities and states, it 
also may apply  to large, public pension funds such as CalPers that 
exert extraordinary  pressure by refusing to invest in offending 
nations.

But the public isn't entirely without power. A new strength, the 
Internet,  connects local activists as never before. Besides offering 
a constant  stream of global news, the Internet offers at least two 
Web sites that keep  updated lists on a wide variety of boycotts, 
explaining how regular  citizens can join in.

And pressure from private investors can influence companies and, in 
turn,  nations the same way public funds can. In April, pressure from 
human-rights  groups succeeded in drawing investors away from a U.S. 
stock offering by  PetroChina, a firm implicated in human-rights 
violations.

The court has righted the balance in favor of federal authority over  
foreign policy. But Americans have as much private power as ever to 
add  impact to their views.



________________


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