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[theburmanetnews] BurmaNet News: Ju
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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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