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[theburmanetnews] Burmanet News: Ju
Reply-To: theburmanetnews-owner@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [theburmanetnews] Burmanet News: July 11, 2000
______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
An on-line newspaper covering Burma
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________
July 11, 2000
Issue # 1574
The BurmaNet News is viewable online at:
http://theburmanetnews.editthispage.com
NOTED IN PASSING:
"When topics to do with sex are considered taboo, people do not wish
to discuss them, people do not think it in good taste to discuss such
matters. But we cannot avoid discussions if we are to help those who
are already suffering from HIV, and to prevent the further spread of
the disease."
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (See AFP: AUNG SAN SUU KYI CALLS FOR GREATER
OPENNESS ON AIDS)
"In Myanmar, a developing country, parents are honored and respected
by their children...domestic violence and child abuse, and
pornography and sexual abuse are non-existent."
Dr. Sein Tu, Contributing Editor to the Myanmar Times (See MYANMAR
TIMES: INDIGNANT MYANMAR REJECTS WORLD HEALTH RATING)
"You've got to be careful since the girls don't care whether or not
you use a condom... Many times with many different women I had to
stop them and tell them to wait until I had a shield on."
Anonymous, assessing prostitution at Rangoon's Equitorial Hotel and
other sites. WORLDSEXGUIDE.COM: ENTRY FOR MYANMAR [WARNING-EXPLICIT
CONTENT]
*Inside Burma
AFP: AUNG SAN SUU KYI CALLS FOR GREATER OPENNESS ON AIDS
MYANMAR TIMES: INDIGNANT MYANMAR REJECTS WORLD HEALTH RATING
WORLDSEXGUIDE.COM: ENTRY FOR MYANMAR [WARNING-EXPLICIT CONTENT]
REUTERS: MYANMAR SAYS 60,000 STUDENTS TO RESUME CLASSES
THE SUNDAY TIMES - RUNAWAYS TELL OF BURMESE SLAVERY
*Regional
IRNA (IRAN): WHO INVEST $1 MILLION TO FIGHT DISEASE IN THAI-BURMA
BORDER
REUTERS: MYANMAR ATTACKS THAI ATTITUDE TO DRUGS PROBLEM
*International
DPA: BURMA, YUGOSLAVIA 'CONNECTED'
*Economy/Business
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST: BURMA TIES UNDER FIRE
SHAN HERALD AGENCY FOR NEWS: PARK MOON MEETING CONDEMNS SALWEEN POWER
PROJECT
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
AFP: AUNG SAN SUU KYI CALLS FOR GREATER OPENNESS ON AIDS
DURBAN, South Africa, July 10 (AFP) - Myanmar opposition leader Aung
San Kyi called Monday in a video message to the 13th International
Conference on AIDS in Durban, South Africa, for greater openness in
discussing the causes of the killer disease.
Myanmar last year denied warnings from the United Nations that it
was ignoring a rising AIDS epidemic in the country.
UNAIDS estimates that 440,000 people are afflicted with HIV and AIDS
in Myanmar out of population of about 48 million.
The junta, which seldom releases figures on AIDS infections, says it
has taken great steps to control the epidemic since 1985 and denies
claims that it is spreading AIDS to neighbours like Thailand and
India.
Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under constant harassment by the
junta since her National League for Democracy won an overwhelming
victory in 1990 elections, but which the junta refused to recognise,
linked AIDS and human rights.
"Rights without compassion, for me, is empty, is nothing," she
said. "So I would like to use this opportunity, not so much to urge
more research on AIDS ... but mainly for more compassion."
She added: "Openness will help us to control the spread of AIDS.
Compassion will help those who are already suffering from HIV.
"When topics to do with sex are considered taboo, people do not wish
to discuss them, people do not think it in good taste to discuss such
matters. But we cannot avoid discussions if we are to help those who
are already suffering from HIV, and to prevent the further spread of
the disease."
"The tendency to discriminate against those who have HIV is the
worst killer: it is not HIV itself but lack of compassion and lack of
information that is making people die from AIDS."
____________________________________________________
MYANMAR TIMES: INDIGNANT MYANMAR REJECTS WORLD HEALTH RATING
July 10-16, 2000
[BurmaNet--About the source--The Myanmar Times is ostensibly a
private sector publication but appears to be sponsored or closely
affiliated with the Office of Strategic Studies which is part of the
military intelligence agency.]
By Dr. Sein Tu
THE World Health Organization dropped the equivalent of a bombshell
on Yangon on 21 June with its publication of The World Health Report
2000, relegating Myanmar to a ranking of 190 out of a total of 191
member states. The Government, international health experts and
general public reacted with anger and outrage branding the report as
incredibly subjective and lacking in substance. It refuted its
substance.
Using 5 parameters or performance indicators in its report "Health
Systems: Improving Performance" it assessed and ranked the health
care systems of its member countries in order of their effectiveness,
pushing Myanmar to the second bottom of its list as having the second
worst health system in the entire world.
This news predictably led to an outburst of fury and indignation. One
international entrepreneur termed the WHO ranking "outrageous." Some
analysts were quick to discern the Machiavellian hand of political
pressure groups and the presence of subjective pique in the
preparation of the Report. Lending credence to such allegations is
the fact that the only country ranked lower than Myanmar is Sierra
Leone, where they have been taking UN troops hostage and shooting up
UN convoys.
The UN report was categorically rejected by the Government of the
Union of Myanmar in its communiqué of 28 June. In its press release
the Ministry of Health stated: "The Ministry of Health has learnt
with deep regret that the WHO in The World Health Report 2000 issued
in Geneva, ranks Myanmar near the bottom of the list, notwithstanding
the significant gains made by the Myanmar health system in recent
years.
"The Ministry finds it highly objectionable that unreliable methods
have been employed to arrive at the assessment. Myanmar is aggrieved
that its unrelenting efforts to improve health system performance
have not been given the recognition it deserves but instead
discredited. "The report is an egregious misrepresentation of the
overall health system performance of Myanmar. In the circumstance,
the Ministry of Health finds the report totally unacceptable."
The Ministry also criticised WHO for not consulting pertinent data
published by the government, and its reliance instead on questionable
material provided by prejudiced informants. It further declared
unequivocally the report constituted an insult to the entire
patriotic health personnel who are providing dedicated health care to
the people.
The communiqué reiterated its total rejection of the World Health
Report 2000 and reaffirmed that the Ministry would proceed on its
chosen path to implement all aspects of modern health services for
the benefit of every Myanmar citizen.
Dr Mya Oo, Deputy Minister for Health, responded with a letter of
protest to Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director-General of WHO in
Geneva on 26 June and expressed dismay. In his letter Dr Mya Oo
recalled the long and fruitful association which Myanmar has had with
WHO, UN Agencies and international NGOs in markedly reducing maternal
mortality, infant mortality, and under 5 years mortality.
The Deputy Minister then totally rejected the WHO assessment and
ranking on overall health system performance of Myanmar. The WHO used
5 performance indicators to assess the health care of member states.
These were (1) Overall Level of Population Health, (2) Health
Inequalities, (3) Overall Level of Health System Responsiveness, i.e.
patient satisfaction and how well the system is working, (4)
Distribution of Responsiveness, or how well people of varying
economic strata find their needs are being served, and (5) Fair
Financing or the distribution of the cost of health systems among the
population.
Taking up each of the five parameters used by the WHO in turn, Dr Mya
Oo pointed out that the WHO calculations of Average Level of Health
was based on erroneous data on life expectation which did not reflect
the true situation. Similarly on Health Inequalities the WHO
calculations ignored the data published in 1999 by the Central
Statistical Organisation and "are thus based on wrong data and cannot
be regarded as correct."
"Regarding Responsiveness, WHO estimates of Respect for Persons and
Client Orientation are, at the best of times, extremely subjective
measures that should be based on direct observations, especially the
interaction between health care providers and recipients; these
cannot be measured from afar by relying on "key informants" who are
probably biased in the first place. The findings on this measure
therefore inspire no credulity whatsoever," said Dr Mya Oo.
With regard to Fairness in Financing of Health Care the "WHO Report
claimed that 87.4 per cent of the cost of health care in Myanmar are
borne by the patients and it is accordingly ranked 190th in this
category. The correct figure is 69.9pc according to published
figures, which the WHO has totally ignored."
He also revealed that trust funds have for a long time been set up in
most public hospitals to relieve the financial burden of health care
for poor patients. Cost sharing has also been in force to charge
people unable to pay for drugs and diagnostic procedures. A sizeable
portion of these funds is set side for those who cannot afford to pay.
The Deputy Minister also pointed out that the Health Budget does not
include the expenditures on health services provided by various other
ministries including Railways, Energy and Mines. The Ministries of
Health and Labour already have in place social security schemes to
enable pre-payment by workers to ensure future health security.
Special efforts are also being made to raise the quality of health
services for rural people and close the gap between rural and urban
areas. Nationwide projects for water and sanitation, immunisation,
nutrition and disease prevention have been successfully implemented
with the help of international agencies. A health insurance scheme is
also being planned.
Regarding the Overall Ranking on Health Systems Performance, Dr Mya
Oo stated the views of the Government candidly. He declared: "It is
questionable how Myanmar is ranked 190 out of 191 in overall health
sector performance. It is totally incomprehensible that those
countries suffering from famine or ravages of war with total
breakdown of all functions of government, including health systems,
are ranked much higher than Myanmar. Therefore, WHO's assessment of
Myanmar's health sector performance is totally unacceptable."
U Mya Oo concluded by stating the government anticipated amendments
to the report after consultation with member countries. Inevitably,
the WHO Report evoked a storm of protest in medical circles. The
Director-General of the Myanmar Medical Research Directorate Dr Paing
Soe, in an interview with the BBC on 27 June, roundly condemned WHO's
decision to rank Myanmar below nations where internecine warfare have
produced a total breakdown of governmental functions including
delivery of health care systems, making the ranking ludicrous even to
the man in the street.
He also pointed out that in its Report the WHO had appointed itself
judge and jury to downgrade Myanmar's health care status and that
this ran counter to the spirit of mutual cooperation which had
characterised relations between WHO and Myanmar in the past.
Dr Kyi Soe, Secretary of the National Health Committee and Director-
General of the Dept. of Health Planning, when interviewed, also
stated the criteria used by WHO to assess health performance were
inapplicable to developing countries.
With regard to the issue of Fair Financing, Dr Kyi Soe pointed out
Myanmar had a built-in system for ensuring health care for the
indigent. Free medical care and treatment is provided in public
hospitals for those who cannot afford them. Help is also available
for the indigent from trust funds donated by the community in almost
every hospital. At last report these funds totalled Kyat135 million.
He criticised the WHO for totally ignoring the role of Traditional
Medicine in Myanmar and many other eastern countries. "These
medicines are effective, cheap, popular and readily available
throughout the country," he said. Dr Kyi Soe also issued an
invitation for visitors to come to Myanmar and see for themselves the
progress that has been made in the economic, social and health
sectors.
U Kyi Soe also queried the definition of the term "poor". While
conceding that in terms of economic income Myanmar might be poor, he
pointed out that if "poor" referred to a poor quality of life, then a
Buddhist country like Myanmar was rich indeed.
"America, for example, is an economically rich and powerful country
but the crime rate is one of the highest in the world, millions of
old people die of loneliness in old people's homes, and domestic
violence and child abuse are major problems. One in three marriages
ends in divorce, and pornography is widespread.
"In Myanmar, a developing country, parents are honored and respected
by their children, the crime rate is very low, divorce and suicide
are almost unheard of, as are domestic violence and child abuse, and
pornography and sexual abuse are non-existent," he said.
He stated that economically backward though it may be, Myanmar
definitely possesses an infinitely richer quality of life. Dr Sein
Tu, Contributing Editor to Myanmar Times, is a former Professor in
Clinical Psychology and has an MA from Columbia and a PhD from
Harvard.
____________________________________________________
WORLDSEXGUIDE.COM: ENTRY FOR MYANMAR [WARNING-EXPLICIT CONTENT]
Yangon (Rangoon) Other Dated Added: 2000-06-11 Submitted by: Anon
new- Had an amazing time in Myanmar. There are basically only 2
places to meet working girls. Both are bars. One is called the
Equitorial and the other is called Asia Plaza. Both places reminded
me of Bangkok. The Equitorial has incredibly beautiful women, and is
where most of the foreigners hang out.
As soon as you walk in the door you are ambushed by the young vixens.
Prices range from US $30 - $50 for all night and into the morning. I
settled on $45 for the first women, and her friend for an additional
$30. A nice BBBJ. I came in both their mouths. Such a rare occurrence
in my experience.
You've got to be careful since the girls don't care whether or not
you use a condom for f/s. Many times with many different women I had
to stop them and tell them to wait until I had a shield on. Although
I enjoy a condomless BJ.
Asia plaza is where the locals go. I prefer it much better because I
was always the only white dude in there...so I had the pick of the
place. The girls seem to enjoy US currency over the worthless Kyat.
Girls are beautiful and prices are from 20-40 dollars. 40 dollars
being charged for a goddess for 24 hours. There is a small cover
charge at both places...when you sit down a girl will always come
over and sit with you. They are aggressive. If you don't care for
that approach, just keep sending them away and after 20mins or so
they'll stop coming by. If the girl sits with you awhile and you
decide not to keep her, you are expected to tip her 1000 kyats ( 1-2
dollars). It is no problem to take any of the girls back to any
hotel. I have stayed at all 5 of the 4-5 star hotels the many times I
was there and it was never a problem. Trust me, you will find working
girls no where else in Yangon. Ming-ga-la-ba.
____________________________________________________
REUTERS: MYANMAR SAYS 60,000 STUDENTS TO RESUME CLASSES
By Aung Hla Tun
YANGON, July 11 (Reuters) - Around 60,000 Myanmar college students
are set to restart classes on July 24, officials said, as the
military government gradually reopens campuses shut down more than
three years ago after pro-democracy rallies.
``Classes for second-year, third-year and first-year students, those
who matriculated in 1996, will be opened on July 24. Total student
numbers in these classes will be 60,000 in the whole country,'' a
senior Ministry of Education official told Reuters.
Yangon's ruling generals ordered the closure of more than 30
universities and colleges a few days before final examinations in
December 1996, after student demonstrations at campuses and on the
streets of the capital.
More than 100,000 students were affected, and hundreds of thousands
more who finished school since 1996 are still awaiting the chance to
start university studies.
The education ministry official said fourth year classes for arts
and science subjects reopened at universities and colleges throughout
the country on June 27.
``Classes for those matriculated in 1997, 1998 and 1999 will begin
about three, six and nine months later, respectively... After that
the academic year for all classes will be normalised,'' he said.
An official at the Ministry of Science and Education said classes
for fifth and sixth-year students at the technological universities
in Yangon, Pyi and Mandalay had also re-opened in June, while first
and second-year classes had been going on in these institutions since
January.
``They are all now pursuing their studies peacefully,'' he said.
Myanmar's university's and colleges have long been hotbeds of anti-
government dissent. Universities and colleges were closed for years
after the military crushed a student-led, pro-democracy uprising in
1988.
THOUSANDS AWAIT UNIVERSITY PLACES
More than 400,000 students have passed matriculation exams since the
closure of universities and colleges in 1996.
Some are still waiting to start university, but many have joined the
University Distance Education (UDE) correspondence course scheme to
pursue their studies, officials say.
``UDE programmes are becoming more and more popular among the
students. They can work while studying,'' one UDE official said.
Official statistics show there were 105 universities and colleges in
Myanmar in November 1999.
The Bangkok-based All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF)
opposition group said this week education in the country was in
crisis despite the reopening of classes.
``Only 40 percent of qualified students have so far enrolled because
of the junta's economic and educational mismanagement,'' it said in a
statement.
``Intending students and their parents are being forced to sign
official guarantees that they will not be involved in any political
activities,'' the ABSDF said.
``The students face transportation difficulties because the new
sites of some colleges and universities have been relocated...far
away from urban centres, purposely located close to military and riot-
police bases.''
It said reopened institutions lacked sufficient accommodation,
equipment and trained teachers, and added many young people had left
the country in search of work.
``Most of those who remain in the country can barely afford to feed
themselves and their families, let alone pay for education fees,''
the ABSDF said.
____________________________________________________
THE SUNDAY TIMES - RUNAWAYS TELL OF BURMESE SLAVERY
July 9, 2000
Michael Sheridan, Myawadi, Burma
Burmese oppression: a brief history
THEIR eyes still have a vacant, traumatised stare. Their words are
full of pain and fear. The tale told by these two shattered young men
is a horrible one of murder, beatings and virtual slavery as forced
labour for the Burmese army in a brutal, hidden war.
Myo Myo Knynt, 27, and his friend Aung Htan Oo, 18, were able to tell
their story because they escaped into the jungle after soldiers
killed three of their workmates. They ended up in a refugee camp in
Thailand, where they were interviewed last week.
Their testimony, together with that of other fugitives, is further
evidence that the Burmese junta and its foreign apologists are lying
about the regime's use of forced labour in breach of international
law.
Burma is facing new political and diplomatic pressure as a result of
an unprecedented vote by the Geneva-based International Labour
Organisation (ILO) last month to compel the regime to end forced
labour. Rangoon has until November 30 to comply or ILO member states,
employers' groups and unions worldwide will be asked to review
dealings with Burma and to take measures against any company or
individual implicated in forced labour.
The regime, which calls itself the State Peace and Development
Council, sees it as a critical setback. It denies using forced
labour. China, Japan, Singapore and others that either support the
junta or advocate quiet engagement with it, failed to block the ILO
vote.
As Burmese diplomats and their allies were arguing in Geneva that
forced labour was either an ancient tradition or a myth, the two
young men were living through its awful reality.
Myo Myo Knynt was made to carry packs of landmines. His shoulders
still bear livid scars where the straps bit into his flesh. Aung Htan
Oo has bruises and scars from beatings.
The two were taken from jail in Mandalay in late May. One was there
for brawling, the other accused of stealing a bicycle. They were told
if they worked as porters for the army, they would be set free after
a month or two. They reached the town of Pa'an by truck, where they
found 450 fellow prisoners all waiting to be taken on operations by
the 203rd and 204th battalions against rebels from the Karen minority
group in the misty Dawna mountains.
Both men said they got only a handful of rice to eat and there was no
medicine. Porters fought over food and some died of malaria or
exhaustion.
On June 4 they saw three prisoners, accused of trying to escape,
being dragged by soldiers up a slope above the jungle path. "We heard
six or seven shots," said Aung Htan Oo, "and they told us the
prisoners had been killed."
The two friends agreed they had to try to escape. "We knew that if we
stayed we would die," said Myo Myo Knynt. A few days later, they ran
away.
Barely educated, they had little concept of the Burmese military's 50-
year struggle against Karen insurgents. Eventually, they reached the
Mae river, which divides Burma from Thailand.
"We got into the water up to our chests and got across. Then we saw
the Karen soldiers," said Myo Myo Knynt. They were welcomed and given
food, medical treatment and shelter. It was June 7, one week before
the ILO vote.
In a village along the river, seven more porters, also convicts from
Mandalay, were still hiding last week in fear of Burmese troops,
whose positions could be seen in the distance. All told similar
stories of beatings, torture and malnutrition.
Some of the worst suffering is inflicted upon Karen villagers in the
area, caught between the army and Karen guerrillas. Two mothers, Mu
Tu, 30, and Maw Se Thaw, 20, said they were forced to flee with their
babies in the night of June 22 from their village of Tamawpakki after
soldiers came to pressgang men to work on a road near the border.
"They shot and killed two people who tried to run away," said Maw Se
Thaw. "They stole our animals and took six to 10 men away with them.
We were so frightened we had to leave."
Accounts of rape, sexual abuse and looting by soldiers are manifold.
Many local people have given detailed statements to the Karen Human
Rights Group, testifying that some forced labourers are used as human
minesweepers to walk in front of Burmese troops. "One porter stepped
on a landmine and they shot him," said Naw Lay Wah, a villager, in a
statement.
Others told of conscripted villagers being beaten and stabbed to
death after they collapsed from exhaustion. Many have described how
the porters are fed methamphetamines to curb their appetites and keep
them working - a neat combination of the regime's criminal narcotics
business and its institutionalised brutality.
The Karen guerrillas boobytrap paths with a few landmines, but the
army is known to seed rural land with thousands of the devices. Myo
Myo Knynt was carrying packs of MM1 or MM2 antipersonnel mines, which
are made in Burma in factories supplied by China, the regime's key
foreign backer.
China has exploited the West's policy of using sanctions to isolate
the regime. It has turned Burma into a military ally and a commercial
market for its merchants.
In Myawadi, a shabby border town, soldiers drive around in new olive-
green trucks from the Lijiang factory in China, and carry Chinese-
made weapons and ammunition.
Forced labour is now clearly intrinsic to the regime's control of the
country. It keeps the army in the field. It is used to build
infrastructure. Thai businesses buy logs felled by forced labourers
and any company dealing with Rangoon is likely to be involved, even
indirectly, in a system contaminated by this modern form of slavery.
Britain and America remain the strongest proponents of sanctions.
While China makes no secret of its policy, Singapore has quietly
supplied arms and continues to invest there.
Japan tries to balance its commercial interests with efforts to
persuade the military to reform. France is suspected by human rights
campaigners of profound ambiguity over projects run by the
Total energy company.
For the poor, ill-educated folk of rural Burma, such geopolitics are
as remote as the Moon, but their own nightmare is a daily reality.
"If I have to look back on my life, this was the very worst time,"
said Naw Ther Paw, a Karen villager pressed into labour. "My heart
was gone."
Burmese oppression: a brief history
1947 National hero Aung San, father of Aung San Suu Kyi,
assassinated.
1948 Independence from Britain. Country beset by wars of secession by
Karen and Shan minorities.
1962 Military coup led by General Ne Win. Burma closed to outside
world.
1987 Students demonstrate.
1988 Protesters massacred, generals seize power.
1990 Aung San Suu Kyi wins election landslide. Army refuses to cede
power.
1999 Michael Aris, British husband of Aung San Suu Kyi, dies of
cancer, denied a visa to see his wife for the last time.
2000 Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest. Ne Win, 90, still
dominates political life.
___________________________ REGIONAL ___________________________
IRNA (IRAN): WHO INVEST $1 MILLION TO FIGHT DISEASE IN THAI-BURMA
BORDER
Islamic Republic News Agency
Kuala Lumpur, July 10, IRNA -- The World Health Organization would
invest one million US dollars to tackle HIV/AIDS, malaria and
tuberculosis along the Thai border with
Burma.
The Thai's daily, the Bangkok Post quoted Thailand's Public Health
Minister Korn Dabbaransi as saying the problem would never be solved
without the co-operation of neighbouring countries and international
bodies.
''Thailand has been bearing a cost of over 200 million baht (5.25
million dollars) every year in taking care of the health of
immigrants from neighboring countries,'' he said at the end of the
first meeting of Health administrators on bilateral cooperation in
disease control between Thailand and
Burma.
''We are at the stage at which we can no longer bear the cost
alone,'' Korn
said.
He said the financial aid would reduce malaria cases, increase condom
use and cure tuberculosis.
Korn said the health ministries of the two nations hope to reduce
malaria by 5 a year, achieve 100 percent increase in condom use and
enforce 'directly observed treatments' by 85 percent in all districts
and towns along the Burmese
border.
Due to the incomplete intake of drugs among patients, malaria and
tuberculosis was on the increase from 1000,000 to 120,000 between
1996-1998, mostly among foreign migrants seeking treatment along the
border.
Korn said the health ministry was concerned about the increase of
HIV/AIDS and report that 80 percent of female sex workers along Burma-
Thailand border towns of Tak, Chiang Rai and Ranong were
Burmese.
____________________________________________________
REUTERS: MYANMAR ATTACKS THAI ATTITUDE TO DRUGS PROBLEM
YANGON, July 11 (Reuters) - A state-run Myanmar newspaper on Tuesday
said Thailand was worsening its own drugs problem by harbouring
insurgents and should work together with Myanmar to combat the
problem rather than trading accusations.
A commentary in the Myanma Alin newspaper said Thailand was
harbouring rebel groups which financed their activities by drug
trafficking. Official papers in Myanmar are seen as official
mouthpieces of the military government.
``Don't accept the insurgents from other countries, who are
pretending to be 'freedom fighters' or 'democracy activists','' the
newspaper said. ``You will have to experience various troubles as
long as you consider them refugees or friends.''
The Thai army said last month that drug production and trafficking
from Myanmar was increasing rapidly and posed a serious threat to
Thailand and other countries in the region.
Speaking on a tour of Thailand's Golden Triangle region, on the
borders of Myanmar and Laos, Thai military officials said the mass
relocation of ethnic minorities within Myanmar over the last year had
fuelled a massive increase in drugs production.
Myanmar is the world's second largest producer of opium and its
derivative heroin, as well as a major source of amphetamines. It says
it it is tackling the problem.
``Narcotic drug problems have now become such a common issue that we
need to solve them by co-operating in good faith,'' the paper said,
telling Thailand not to ``echo the malicious accusations of the
colonialists.''
__________________ INTERNATIONAL __________________
DPA: BURMA, YUGOSLAVIA 'CONNECTED'
July 10, 2000
BELGRADE - Yugoslav President Slobodan Mlosevic met Burma's Foreign
Minister Win Aung on Thursday in Belgrade and said he was convinced
their "successful cooperation would continue, Serbian state
television RTS said.
Milosevic said both countries were connected, because they "resist
domination in the world" and were subject to attempts by the West to
destabilize them.
He called sanctions imposed on sovereign states a "criminal form of
behavior . a massive violation of human rights".
In deep international isolation since its campaign against ethnic
minorities in Kosovo Milosevic's regime has turned to other countries
also shunned by much of the world community, such as North Korea,
Libya and Cuba.
Military-ruled Burma is a pariah state because of the regime's
undemocratic rule, widespread human rights abuses and failure to
suppress large-scale heroin and amphetamine export Deutsche Presse-
Agentur.
_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST: BURMA TIES UNDER FIRE
July 11, 2000
WILLIAM BARNES
Hong Kong factory owners have become the target of activists in the
United States after helping to fuel a sharp rise in Burma's clothing
exports to the world's most lucrative consumer market.
Garment makers operating in the military-run country are able to pay
perhaps the lowest rates for piece work - as little as four US cents
an hour, claims the New York-based National Labour Committee (NLC).
This is significantly lower than even the hourly take-home pay of so-
called "sweat shop" workers in Bangladesh, 13-20 US cents, Indonesia,
20 US cents, or the mainland, 28 US cents, the NLC said.
Moreover, the workers' rights group complained, profits from clothing
factories in Burma go directly to help an unpopular, incompetent and
widely criticised regime stay in power.
"This is the worst sort of labour exploitation - it is the height of
irresponsibility," said Phil Robertson, the Thailand country director
of the Solidarity Centre, an American non-government organisation
concerned with labour issues.
"Hong Kong factory owners who go in there are the lowest of the low
as far as the international garment industry is concerned," he said.
This is vigorously disputed by Jerry Pang, of Victoria Garments in
Kowloon.
"As far as we are concerned we are helping the people out. Our type
of labour-intensive industry helps people the most in a poor country
such as Burma," he said.
Burma's clothing exports to the US climbed by 85 per cent in the
first quarter of this year, after rising by 45 per cent last year and
49 per cent in 1998.
According to a United States embassy commercial guide, in 1998 there
were about 30 textile and garment factories in Burma, at least half
of them wholly or partly foreign-owned "mostly by Hong Kong or South
Korean firms".
It said joint ventures were usually either with Burma Textile
Industries, a state firm, or with the Union of Burma Economic
Holdings, one of the military's commercial arms.
There are other dangers. The NLC report noted that Wal-Mart Canada
imported at least one shipload of garments this year from Every Green
(Burma) Overseas - a factory controlled by former drug warlord Lo
Hsing Han, whose son is banned from the US on suspicion of
involvement in drug trafficking.
The following factories have Hong Kong owners according to a recent
official list of businesses: Burma Winner Garment Manufacturing,
Burma Unimix International, Rangoon Knit Garment Manufacturing, Burma
Euroworld International, Group Link (Burma), Rangoon Sportswear
Manufacturing, Prime Industrial, Rangoon Garment Manufacturing,
Yantzekiang Industries (Burma) and Eastern World. All, save the last
two, are listed as joint ventures.
The latest campaign against Burma-based garment makers points out the
risks of doing business with a regime which has become a favourite
target of Western activists.
The NLC is sending stiff letters to the likes of Warner Bros, Bugle
Boy, Jordache, Kohl's, Adidas and Nautica asking why they import from
Burma.
Whereas activists want other cheap labour centres to adhere to
minimal labour standards they argue that factory owners should steer
clear of Burma altogether.
"Burma has the worst name in the US. I can assure manufacturers that
the American labour movement will run down every movement out of
Burma," said Mr Robertson. "You cannot do business in Burma without
consorting with the military dictatorship."
US jeans-maker Levi Strauss pulled out of Burma saying: "Under
current circumstances it is not possible to do business in Burma
without directly supporting the military government and its pervasive
violations of human rights."
The International Labour Organisation has suspended Burma, and asked
its 174 member countries to review their relations with it, because
of the regime's widespread use of forced labour.
In a sign of the power of lobby groups, the sportswear-maker Adidas
quickly denied that it sources bags from Burma any longer. A company
representative said pictures of "Adidas - Made in Burma labels" on
the NLC Web site must either be old or of counterfeits.
But, Mr Pang argued, sanctions hurt the very people they were
designed to help: "No country is more sanctioned against than North
Korea or Cuba yet they are still run by die-hard dictators. Only the
people are suffering."
When Victoria Garments opened its joint-venture factory - with the
Ministry of Industry's textiles division in 1989 - more than 2,000
young Burmese queued in monsoon rain for 400 jobs.
The group soon had four factories operating in the country.
"They are proud people and proud people make good workers. They
believe in what they are doing," Mr Pang said.
"If you learn of the country from reading a newspaper you would not
touch it with a 10-foot pole but in reality it is not so bad."
Mr Pang cited high literacy and more than 50 per cent unemployment as
creating a crying need for jobs.
"And Burma is a very good production place for us. There are no
hidden costs.
"I can tell you the country is relatively uncorrupt. Against
Indonesia or the Philippines there is no comparison."
However garment makers may be the only Hong Kong investors in Burma
doing well. Many hoteliers are doing poor business and bank
representative officers are mostly idle.
____________________________________________________
SHAN HERALD AGENCY FOR NEWS: PARK MOON MEETING CONDEMNS SALWEEN POWER
PROJECT
9 July 2000
No: 7-2
The international meeting in Thailand held late last month declared
its opposition to the dam project in the Shan State, reported a Shan
participant. The declaration said it "oppose(s) the control of rivers
and resources by illegitimate and repressive governments, as in
Burma".
It also served notice that "No development projects should be built
without the voluntary, prior and informed consent of all affected
people Information regarding proposed project must be disclosed, in
a timely and transparent manner." It also demanded "democratic
reforms."
The meeting was held, 29 June - 1 July, Kong Jiam, Ubon Province,
and attended by representatives from 12 countries that included
Burma, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea,
Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and and Vietnam.
Meanwhile, topographical survey and surface mapping is still going on
at the dam site in Tasarng, Shan State. "It shall continue for
another 5 months," said an informed source.
The core drilling of rock formations on both banks of the Salween
was completed in May by EGAT (Electricity Generating Authority of
Thailand) which was contracted by the GMS Power, a subsidiary of the
MDX firm in Thailand.
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